Whenever a big name player arrives in Manhattan there are going to be outsized expectations. When he signed a 7 year, $81 million contract last July, those expectations shifted onto Russian winger Artemi Panarin. Panarin came to New York after putting up back to back 80 point seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Adding Panarin to a team that was still rebuilding brought about a lot of questions about the timeline surrounding the team and how Panarin might fit in with a Rangers team that wasn’t exactly brimming with talent.
Performance
I don’t think there’s any way to understate this; Artemi Panarin’s debut season on Broadway was the best season a Rangers forward put together since the 2005-06 season.