Rasmus Andersson is already gone, shipped to Vegas in a major pre-deadline move, and all signs now point to Artemi Panarin as the next marquee name to go before the March 6th trade deadline. Panarin’s no-movement clause and sizable cap hit complicate any deal, but with talks intensifying and the pool of suitors narrowing, the Rangers increasingly look like a team preparing to move on from their leading scorer sooner rather than later.
The Rasmus Andersson trade reshaped the market for high-end defensemen and underscored how aggressive contenders are willing to be when the right player becomes available. It also sharpened the focus on Panarin’s situation in New York, where a looming retool has turned one of the league’s most productive forwards into the centerpiece of a high-stakes deadline story that betting outlets like Ozoon Sportsbook will be tracking closely.
In both cases, the key themes are control and leverage. Andersson, a coveted right-shot defenseman on an expiring deal, fetched a significant return for Calgary. Panarin, an elite winger with a full no-move clause and an $11.64 million cap hit in the final year of his contract, will heavily influence which teams can even stay in the conversation.
Rasmus Andersson Deal Resets Calgary
Andersson’s fight with Boone Jenner on January 13 looked in hindsight like a final emotional flashpoint for a player whose time in Calgary was winding down. Within days, the Flames finalized a deal that sent their top right-shot defenseman to the Vegas Golden Knights in a package that underlined both Calgary’s willingness to look ahead and Vegas’ urgency to load up for another run.
The full trade was straightforward but substantial. Calgary moved Andersson to Vegas in exchange for defenseman Zach Whitecloud, defense prospect Abram Wiebe, a conditional first-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, and a conditional second-round pick in 2028. The conditions are important: reports indicate the 2028 second-rounder will upgrade to a first-round pick if the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup, and the 2027 first-round pick is top-10 protected. Calgary also retained 50 percent of Andersson’s salary, which carries a $4.55 million average annual value in the final season of his six-year deal.
For the Flames, the trade checks several boxes at once. They turned a pending unrestricted free agent into two high-value futures, a cost-controlled NHL defenseman in Whitecloud, and a young blueline prospect in Wiebe, while easing their own cap obligations for the rest of the season. Andersson was playing heavy minutes, leading Calgary in ice time at more than 24 minutes per game and sitting near the top of the team’s scoring from the back end, so moving him marks a clear shift toward longer-term planning.
Vegas, meanwhile, added exactly the type of all-situations workhorse that tends to matter most in the spring. At 29, Andersson has already passed the 500-game mark in his NHL career, spent entirely with Calgary, and has established himself as an offensive-minded defenseman who can run a power play, move the puck in transition, and handle tough matchups at five-on-five. The Golden Knights paid a premium and did not secure an immediate extension, but early indications are that they will take a serious run at re-signing him before he hits the open market, much as they did after acquiring Noah Hanifin.
From a competitive standpoint, the move reinforces Vegas as one of the Western Conference’s most aggressive operators. The organization has never shied away from big swings, and adding another top-pair caliber defenseman ahead of the deadline fits with that pattern. It also sets a high bar for other contenders who might be weighing similar structural moves instead of marginal rental upgrades.
Panarin Trade Talks Accelerate
While Andersson’s situation has been resolved, Artemi Panarin’s future remains one of the defining questions of this deadline season. Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury recently issued a public letter to fans acknowledging that the club is pivoting into a retool around its younger core, rather than pursuing another extension with Panarin. Before that letter went out, Drury met with Panarin and informed him that the team would not be offering a new contract and would instead work with him and his agent to find a trade destination.
Panarin’s contract details shape every part of the discussion. He is 34, in the final year of the seven-year, $81.5 million deal he signed with New York in 2019, carries an $11.64 million cap hit, and holds a full no-move clause. That combination gives him substantial control over where he can be traded and immediately removes a large portion of the league from contention based on cap space alone. For the Rangers, it creates a leverage problem: they cannot simply auction him to the highest bidder, and potential partners know it.
Even with those constraints, a market has clearly formed. Reporting in recent days has consistently linked the Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche as two of the most engaged teams in talks with New York. Both clubs have a strong incentive to pursue a player of Panarin’s profile, but for different reasons.
Washington’s interests align directly with its stated priorities. General manager Chris Patrick has publicly identified a “higher-end, skilled winger” as the team’s biggest need, and Panarin fits that description as well as any player likely to move before the deadline. The Capitals still want to contend while Alex Ovechkin is on the roster, and Panarin offers immediate top-line scoring and playmaking, with the potential for a contract extension baked into the deal to avoid a pure rental.
Colorado’s fit is more about amplifying an already elite core. The Avalanche were finalists for Panarin’s services in free agency in 2019 and remain one of the league’s top contenders, led by Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen up front. Adding another game-breaking winger would give Colorado even more offensive depth, but the cap math is tight. The Avalanche would likely need the Rangers to retain salary and might have to send money out to make a move work.
Beyond those two, other teams have been mentioned more loosely as clubs to monitor. Dallas and Carolina have the kind of rosters and prospect pools that could support a significant move, while Florida has been floated as an appealing destination if the cap puzzle can be solved. The common thread is that any serious bidder will need both the financial flexibility to absorb Panarin’s number, at least in part, and the type of competitive window that would convince him to waive his no-move clause.
Rangers Weigh Leverage And Timing
For the Rangers, timing and cooperation will determine how strong a return they can command. Panarin’s full no-move clause means he could, in theory, play out the season in New York, but the organization has already signaled a willingness to move on and wants to convert his final months under contract into a meaningful package of prospects and picks. The best-case scenario for Drury is that Panarin narrows his list of acceptable destinations quickly, remains motivated to chase another deep playoff run, and is open to more than one or two teams, preserving some level of bidding tension.
If that happens, Panarin could become the second major name, after Andersson, to move in what is shaping up as a deadline defined by structural decisions rather than incremental tweaks. Contenders like Vegas, Colorado, and Washington are thinking beyond short-term rentals, weighing full-season and even multi-year impacts of adding star-level talent.
In that context, the Andersson trade looks like an early marker of how aggressive front offices are prepared to be. Calgary chose to convert a core piece into a mix of immediate help and future assets. New York appears poised to do something similar on the forward side with Panarin, though under far more complicated contractual circumstances.
What remains uncertain is how quickly the Panarin situation will resolve. The Rangers have roughly seven weeks from Drury’s initial message to fans to the March 6 deadline, and every day that passes without clarity shifts the balance between urgency and leverage. As the calendar turns and more teams decide whether to buy or stand pat, the league’s focus will continue to swing between the defensive upgrade Vegas already secured in Andersson and the high-end scoring threat Panarin could deliver to whichever contender manages to align cap space, assets, and his approval.