Rangers superstar could be moved this summer due to rift forming with management

Staple stated in his recent article on the Athletic that Panarin is not a lock to stay, as two league sources informed him that General Manager Chris Drury was unhappy with Panarin's playoff performance and that he simply did not take over games the way the Rangers were expecting. It should be noted that Drury was not the Manager who signed Panarin. That was previous GM Jeff Gorton.

This may come as a shock to many, as since joining the New York Rangers, Panarin has 246 points (71 goals & 178 assists) in 186 games played. This is fifth amongst all NHLers during the last three seasons. He has also averaged 1.34 points per game during that time frame, good for fifth during that stretch as well.

On paper, Panarin did not have a poor playoffs. He had 16 points (6 goals & 10 assists) in 20 games played, good for third overall on the team. However, when you look at McDavid and Draisaitl for example, both players averaged two points per game during the post-season. Perhaps the Rangers feel they needed more out of the star winger in order to go deeper than the third round of the playoffs, particularly at his price point.

If the Rangers do look to move Panarin, the Russian native certainly holds the power given he has a full No-Movement Clause. Staple also suggests that if there is a divide forming between Panarin and Drury, it may be Panarin who demands out rather than Drury asking him to waive his NMC.

Things could get very interesting this summer. That's a VERY large contract to try and move, but for a player of Panarin's caliber, I'm sure there are teams who are willing to play some salary cap Tetris.