Kings GM’s immediate reaction to Artemi Panarin trade, contract extension

The Los Angeles Kings got exponentially better on Wednesday afternoon, landing the big fish of the NHL trade market in the form of former New York Rangers superstar forward Artemi Panarin.

With the Blueshirts waving the white flag on the 2025-26 season — and holding the Russian out of the lineup after commiting to a retool — a deal between Kings GM Ken Holland and Chris Drury got over the finish line right before the Olympic roster freeze went into effect.

“Obviously, we made the deal today to make our team better,” Holland said after signing Panarin to a two-year, $22 million extension that will keep him in California until the end of the 2027-28 campaign, per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen.

“We signed him to a two-year extension. We weren’t going to do it as a rental. He didn’t want to go anywhere as a rental. He wanted to find a home, so we’re thrilled that he wanted to waive the no-trade (clause) to come to LA. We’re happy that we were able to get him to a two-year extension, and after two years, I’m hoping that we’re working on another extension, but (I’ll) worry about that down the road. I think it was just a matter of these types of players with this resume are very, very difficult to find, and we had an opportunity to add one today.”

Even at 34-years-old, Panarin remains one of the better wingers in the National Hockey League. He hasn’t played at under a point-per-game pace since his first two years in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks — and he won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2015-16.

Artemi Panarin completely transforms Kings

At first glance, Panarin looks like the perfect addition for the Kings, who have had a ton of trouble scoring goals in 2025-26. As of Thursday, Los Angeles is averaging 2.56 goals per game, which is 28th league-wide.

The club still has playoff aspirations come April, although things are precarious right now; the Kings are 23-18-14 and three points back of the final wildcard berth in the Western Conference.

Panarin should be a huge help in the quest to get the franchise back into the dance for a fifth consecutive campaign. The left winger, who has managed 57 points in 52 games in 2025-26, will immediately improve the top powerplay unit, and could play with fellow star forward Adrian Kempe.

Kempe, a pure right winger, is having an excellent campaign himself with 46 points in 55 games, and the duo should elevate their respective games if they are indeed linemates — especially if captain Anze Kopitar is centering the trio.

“He’s had more than a point a game for nine consecutive years, those players are hard to find, so we went ahead and did the deal because he’s got talent,” Holland said, per Rosen. “And certainly, now, we got to figure out who he fits with and how we get the most out of him.”

Panarin won’t play in the Kings’ final game before the Olympic break on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights, but he’s expected to join the team at their next scheduled practice on Feb. 18.

In what has been a tough campaign in Los Angeles, it’ll be interesting to see if Panarin will a catalyst to the Kings turning things around after the Olympics.

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