Chicago Blackhawks: Artemi Panarin Never Wanted Out

After last night’s game, the former Chicago Blackhawks’ winger Artemi Panarin was asked about the trade out of Chicago. Here’s what he had to say.

After hearing what Artemi Panarin had to say after last night’s game, maybe the Chicago Blackhawks could have kept him after all. A lot of people see the big contract he has and says “we couldn’t afford him”, which is true. If Panarin wanted to stay with Patrick Kane, he would have taken a pay cut. That’s something he talked about last night.

If he was never traded, the Blackhawks could have paid him $8,000,000 AAV now. It would be a tight cap crunch, but it could have worked. Of course, now they can’t afford him. He’s paid over $11,000,000 AAV, something not many teams can afford. Almost every team would have to move players around to get that amount.

Panarin was spoken to after the game. Here’s what he had to say: “When I played in Chicago I thought I would play here my whole life, And that happened (the trade). It still confuses me.” He later went on and talked about the Blackhawks’ salary crunch.

“When I played in Chicago I thought I would play here my whole life, And that happened (the trade). It still confuses me.”

Panarin says he’d rather play for a winning organization, as the Blackhawks were at the time.

“Give them the flexibility so they can retain the guys or sign the new guys because it’s not about me. I’m young. I’m going to make plenty of money in my future.”

“Give them the flexibility so they can retain the guys or sign the new guys because it’s not about me. I’m young. I’m going to make plenty of money in my future.”

It just shows the type of guy Panarin is. Stan Bowman made a bad decision. Panarin is someone who would love to win Stanley Cups now and make money later.

If he was kept in Chicago, after Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews‘ big contracts expired, he could have made more money.

Even now, at 27, $8,000,000 AAV in Chicago is still a lot. Panarin would probably be happy with that if it meant playoff hockey.

The Kane-Panarin connection was something we’ve never seen with Kane. He became a better player because of his time with Panarin. After the success he found last season, he would have added even more points if he played with Panarin. The 2018-19 Kane would have had 120 points if he had Panarin by his side.

It still confuses us fans and hurts to see him have such great success with two other teams. He made the Blue Jackets better and did the same with the Rangers this season. Panarin will win a Stanley Cup at some point in New York.

Panarin and Kaapo Kakko will change the whole landscape of hockey in New York. They also have two talented young goalies in Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin. The pieces are in place for the Rangers.

Good luck Panarin. We miss you.