The Bread Man will be making a lot of bread in New York City.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the New York Rangers won the Artemi Panarin sweepstakes on the first day of free agency beating out the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders for his services.
Panarin’s deal is staggering. The Russian forward agreed reportedly to a seven-year, $81.5 million contract that will pay him $11.6 million per season. Panarin left money on the table to leave Columbus.
Panarin deal with Rangers will come in at around $11.6M per, Post is told
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) July 1, 2019
Late last night, the Blue Jackets made a last-minute offer that would have paid Panarin nearly $100 million dollars, an eight-year, $12 million per season deal.
Also hear the CBJ offered around $12 M or so a year over 8 years …. https://t.co/eb26X03wqT
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 1, 2019
The Islanders reportedly made the biggest per year offer, which has not been reported as of yet.
“Even the Rangers were confused on what Panarin was going to do,” Elliotte Friedman reported on Sportsnet’s Free Agent Frenzy special shortly after the report surfaced.
Since last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who won their first playoff series in the franchise’s history last season, have lost all three of their major unrestricted free agents: Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers), and Matt Duchene (Predators).
Panarin stays in an already-strong Metropolitan Division, where several of the weaker teams have gotten much stronger. The Rangers’ drafted potential superstar Kaapo Kakko second overall in the draft while the New Jersey Devils landed Jack Huges’ first overall. The Devils also acquired PK Subban from the Nashville Predators.
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