Three teams that make sense as Artemi Panarin trade destination

With the New York Rangers sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and already sending up the white flag on this season, management has made the decision to hold forward Artemi Panarin out of the lineup through the Olympic break which begins on Feb. 4. That is a strategic decision to protect him from injury, and strongly indicates that a trade is likely to happen sooner rather than later.

Panarin is the Rangers' best offensive player, still one of the best offensive players in the league, but is a pending unrestricted free after this season. With the Rangers ready to re-tool their roster, they are not really interested in re-signing a forward that will be 35 years old when next season begins. 

So with a trade seeming to be a matter of when, and not if, let's take a look at three potential trade destinations that would make the most sense.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes might be the most logical — and at this point perhaps even the expected — destination.

Their proximity to the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division might give them some pause, but the Rangers and Hurricanes have made significant trades before (including this past offseason involving defenseman K'Andre MIller). Carolina might also be able to offer the best package in return.

Not only do the Hurricanes have plenty of salary cap space to spare (more than $7 million, which could easily allow them to afford the remainder of Panarin's contract this season), they also have four first-round draft picks over the next three years to use as trade bait. 

Carolina has been no stranger to big deadline deals in recent seasons, having previously acquired Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen (before re-trading the latter to the Dallas Stars for Logan Stankoven and two first-round picks).

The Hurricanes are in a win-now mode, and have consistently run into goal-scoring problems the deeper they get into the playoffs. Another elite finisher would be a huge get for them. 

The only potential obstacle might be whether or not the Hurricanes can get Panarin to agree to a contract extension. They were burned with Guentzel when he left as a free agent after being acquired as a rental, and felt compelled to re-trade Rantanen before last year's deadline to avoid a similar situation. 

They do not want to give up significant assets for a player that will leave in a few months. They should still be willing to take the chance. 

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings are in well positioned to end their nine-year playoff drought, and they have an extremely promising core led by forwards Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin, as well as Norris Trophy contending defenseman Moritz Seider. 

What they need more of is depth and secondary scoring.

The top four players in the lineup have done most of the heavy lifting this season, and they are going to need some help if they are going to make any sort of noise in the playoffs. 

The Red Wings have salary cap space, a full complement of draft picks and a decent prospect pool that there is no excuse for them to not be aggressive. 

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings are very much on the playoff bubble in the Western Conference, so they are not as obvious of a buyer as the Hurricanes and Red Wings are. But this is still a big season for them. Franchise icon Anze Kopitar is set to retire after this season, and that should increase the urgency to win — or try to win — this season.

They are also trying to break the cycle that has been four consecutive first-round playoff exits, and offense has been a big need for that since the offseason.

They have simply not addressed it enough.

If the Kings could play their way into a top-three spot in the Pacific Division that portion of the Western Conference bracket is very winnable, so there is a manageable path here for them to compete.

Panarin would be a nice add to help them do that. The offense as currently constructed is simply not enough.