The New York Rangers managed to trade away franchise winger Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings with less than an hour left until the trade freeze. Prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional 2026 third-round pick and conditional 2028 fourth-round pick was sent the other way; a quieter return than most anticipated.
For a former 120-point scorer getting that type of return, it would've been reasonable to assume that a huge haul would be required to acquire him. However, as seen by the trade that went down a few hours ago, that clearly was not the case. If a player like that can get so low, what could someone of less value get?
In the case of the Nashville Predators, there is no one even close to the value of Panarin who's tradable on the roster. More than likely, the highest value player is Ryan O'Reilly but even then, it's not in the same ballpark as Panarin. Despite all of this, we could potentially see trades much larger than what happened today in the Predators' favor by the trade deadline; here's my reasoning.
Panarin Was on an Expiring Deal with Only One Team in Mind: The Kings
This move was more of a trade-and-sign type of deal. Immediately after switching organization, Panarin and Los Angeles agreed to a two-year $22 million contract, yet again another discounted move by the Kings.
We've seen deals in the past where trade value is deflated with the circumstance. Jake Guentzel only needed a third rounder to be sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Mitch Marner only required Nicolas Roy to be sent to the Vegas Golden Knights. After both trades were complete, they each respectively signed long-term deals with their new squads.
Panarin's circumstance was even more unique since he reportedly only wanted to play with the Kings, per Frank Seravalli. In this situation, it's better just to get something out of a deal rather than nothing and let him walk into free agency. This is the main reason why the trade was questionable at first glance; taking a look at the bigger picture gives it some sense.
Predators Have More "Value Menu" Pieces Available
Ryan O'Reilly, Jonathan Marchessault, Michael Bunting, and Steven Stamkos (depending how you look at it) are the most valuable and reasonable trade targets for a lot of teams. Three of the four listed above have cheap, work-around deals that most teams can get by. Panarin on the other hand, required a lot more retained salary (50% to be exact) and the potential to trade players to stay below the salary cap.
Take O'Reilly for example; two years left at $4.5 million as a point-per-game centerman. Compare that to Nazem Kadri who's getting paid $7 million and 0.67 PPG pace. Who's worth more; obviously the cheaper, more reliable one. However, recent reports have come out saying that O'Reilly might not want to leave Nashville just yet. We'll see if that impacts his value in the coming weeks.
Marchessault has a bit of a lengthy deal but again, a cheaper AAV ($5.5 million) is one of the best out there for his archtype. Bunting has proven to be a skilled penalty maker and will give his team a power play at any given moment. Not only that but he's also skilled offensively, scoring 12 and assisting on 18 this season.
Stamkos is tricky because he is a longer contract with a heavy price tag of $8 million AAV. He also hasn't given the green for amending his NMC just yet. Outside of that, Nashville is pretty much set for the trade deadline and teams have been potentially calling General Manager Barry Trotz.
What's It Looking Like for the Predators
This trade deadline sequence has the potential to be the most active for the Preds since 2023, when Mattias Ekholm was dealt. If the cards are played out right and the targets are set, then Nashville is pretty much in the clear. Trotz could end his GM career with a bang by selling almost everything, but we can't assume. The main lesson is that one external trade doesn't dictate whether or not a team will have a good deadline or not.