With dreams of the Stanley Cup: how Kane reunited with Panarin, and Barbashev was traded to the strongest team in the West

Panarin and Kane together again

The team from New York has become one of the main newsmakers of recent weeks in the NHL.

When the Rangers pulled off a high-profile deal at the invitation of Vladimir Tarasenko from St. Louis, many thought that the transfer of Patrick Kane was no longer worth waiting for.

Why, the same thoughts visited the very star of "Chicago".

According to him, this news was not the most pleasant for him, because he himself expected to put on the uniform of the “blue shirts”.

However, they did not stop there and a couple of weeks later they managed to get the leader of the Blackhawks, while giving almost nothing in return.

As a result of the three-way trade, the Rangers got not only Kane, but also the 24-year-old defender Cooper Zech, who has not yet played a single game in the league.

Andy Velinski and Vili Saarijärvi went to Illinois, and the Hawks received two picks in the 2023 draft.

And if the New Yorkers get to the playoff finals in the East, Chicago will take the pick not of the second, but of the first round.

The ability to choose a hockey player in the fourth will remain unchanged.

Also involved in the negotiations, Arizona agreed to a third-round pick in the 2025 draft.

But most importantly, the Coyotes will pay Kane 25% of his fee, while the Chicagos will pay another 50%.

Thus, the Rangers payroll grew only $2.625 million instead of $10.5 million, as a result of which the club managed not to exceed the allowable limit.

This alone makes the deal super profitable, because the New Yorkers have at their disposal a top striker with the experience of winning the Stanley Cup, which is so lacking in the current team.

But it looks even more promising in the context of the reunion of a bunch of Panarin and Kane, who worked very effectively in the Blackhawks.

For two seasons at that time, only Artemy, who made his debut in the league, did not fall below the bar of 74 points, and Patrick even held one of the most productive championships in his career.

In the 2015/16 regular season, he scored 46 goals and provided 60 assists, winning the Art Ross Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award and the Hart Trophy.

He showed more impressive performance only three years later (44 + 66), but lost to Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov in a dispute between scorers.

And everything goes to the fact that soon their tandem with Panarin will again please the fans, but not the Blackhawks.

According to the portal Lohud, Gerard Gallant plans to use Patrick in the same trio with Artemy and Vincent Trochek.

And although the team itself will only benefit from this, there may be dissatisfied with this exchange inside it.

One of them is Tarasenko, who was initially considered as a partner for Panarin.

But as time passes, it seems that another Russian, Vitaly Kravtsov, suffered the most from this transition.

Before the start of the season, he was considered as a potential finisher in the link with Panarin, but could not justify the hopes placed on him.

In 28 meetings, he was content with only 6 (3 + 3) points and was sent to Vancouver in exchange for Will Lockwood and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 draft.

Rebuilding "Washington"

The Capitals locker room is also restless.

A few days ago, the 2018 Stanley Cup winners parted ways with Dmitry Orlov, who defended the colors of the team for 11 seasons, and subsequently continued to reshape the roster.

Over the past day, the Capitals have completed three more deals, as a result of which the rights to defenseman Rasmus Sandin, a third-round pick in the 2024 draft and a second-round pick in the 2025 draft passed to them.

In response, forward Lars Eller moved to Colorado, Minnesota got forward Markus Johansson, and Toronto will not only be able to pick up one more player at the start of the 2023 talent fair, but will also strengthen the defense with experienced Erik Gustafsson, who issues one of the the best seasons in his career.

With 38 (7 + 31) points, he ranked first in the list of defenders-scorers of "Washington".

On the one hand, the club's decision can be understood: they parted ways with three relatively old hockey players with expiring contracts, with the extension of which there could be problems.

Collaboration with 22-year-old Sandin, on the contrary, promises more interesting prospects.

Firstly, under the current agreement, he will receive $ 1.4 million for another year and a half, and then he will become only a limited free agent.

Yes, and its productivity inspires optimism.

In this regular season, he has already scored four goals and 16 passes.

Among the current Washington defenders, only John Carlson and Nick Jensen, who deserved a new three-year contract, can boast of more impressive performance.

But everything goes to the fact that "Washington" is unlikely to be limited to these changes.

According to media reports, the club will attempt to make a couple more exchanges of hockey players who have already passed their peak.

There are enough of them in the team.

This is Niklas Beckström, who suffers from constant injuries, and TJ Oshi, who does not work out his 5.75 million contract, and Nick Dowd, who scored only 20 points.

At the same time, The Athletic believes that in return, the Capitals will try to bargain for young prospects and draft picks, and this actually puts an end to the team's prospects in this championship.

And it is not known how all this will affect their leader and captain Alexander Ovechkin.

He openly expressed dissatisfaction with parting with Orlov and is unlikely to be pleased with the intention of the leadership to head for perestroika.

Sale in Missouri

While "Washington" is only thinking about launching this process, "St. Louis" is cleaning the roster with might and main.

The team has already lost two creators of the Stanley Cup victory - Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O'Reilly, and after them came the turn of Ivan Barbashev.

And if parting with older athletes can still be called logical and profitable, then the exchange of a 27-year-old Russian to Vegas seems ambiguous.

Moreover, as compensation, the Blues took Zach Dean, a 20-year-old forward who not only never went on the ice in the NHL, but also does not demonstrate phenomenal performance in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

In the current tournament, he scored 51 (24 + 27) points in 39 matches and takes only 39th place in the scorer race.

If you believe the words of agent Dan Milstein, Barbashev himself was ready for such a development of events, and he regards the move to Nevada positively.

If St. Louis is 11th in the Western Conference table and has only a theoretical chance of making the playoffs, then Vegas is in first place and is considered one of the contenders for the Stanley Cup.

And as it seems initially, the Golden Knights have big plans for Ivan.

He immediately got into the top three with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchess and spent 16 minutes 40 seconds on the ice in the confrontation with Colorado - the fourth result among the forwards.

As for the Blues, before the deadline, they may part with one more of the stars.

We are talking about Colton Paraiko - a top defender and assistant captain.

Yes, this season his statistics have noticeably dipped, especially if we talk about the utility indicator (“-20”).

But not only the Canadian is to blame for this, but also his partners.

And it is unlikely that after his departure the situation will change for the better.

Unless the payroll will be reduced immediately by $6.5 million.

Departure of Gavrikov and exchange of Dadonov for Guryanov

Until recently, there was no clarity about the future of another defender.

A week ago, Vladislav Gavrikov was one foot in Boston, but he suddenly made a choice in favor of Orlov and thus put the Russian hockey player Columbus in an extremely difficult position.

After all, he did not change his residence permit, and did not return to the basis of his current team.

Fearing injury, the coaching staff withdrew him from the squad, but did not return him back.

Two variants of the development of events were considered the most probable.

Either Gavrikov will still go to a new club before the close of the additional application period, or he will spend the rest of the regular season in the Blue Jackets, after which he will enter the free agent market.

And although Edmonton appeared among the contenders for him, in the end Vladislav ended up in the second team of the West - Los Angeles.

Joonas Korpisalo went with him to California, and Jonathan Quick went to Ohio, Columbus also received two draft picks.

Thus, the Russian will still get a chance to play in the playoffs and, most likely, will be able to help his partners compete for the trophy. 

Alexander Barabanov can also change jobs.

The 28-year-old Russian has finally opened up and is having the best season in the NHL.

Now he has 37 (11 + 26) points in 54 meetings for San Jose and may soon set a personal performance record.

And his success was expectedly noticed in Los Angeles.

According to The Fourth Period, the Kings have already been in contact with the Sharks.

True, they are ready to part with the attacker only if they receive a profitable offer.

But if the exchange of Barabanov is only being discussed, then his former SKA partner has already managed to find a new team.

"Montreal" did not bargain with "Dallas" and changed one Russian for another.

Denis Guryanov, who never reached a new level, went to Canada, and experienced Evgeny Dadonov went to Texas.

The Stars are in third place in the West and will need top performers to compete for the Stanley Cup Finals.