Artemi Panarin said for the last two or three years, he has been working on some "technical aspects’’ of his game, finishing off shots and passes, as well as working on improving his cardiovascular shape.
"I've been trying to make my game more efficient, and smarter, without wasting a lot of energy,’’ he said, through translator Nick Bobrov. "It's different when you run around a lot and get tired, and it could be very ineffective. I believe that a timely pass, or a goal, is probably better than [delivering] four unnecessary hits.’’
Panarin isn’t stressed out by the compressed, 56-game, intradivision-only format this season.