Ryan S. ClarkCloseRyan S. ClarkESPN NHL reporterRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.Follow on X, Kristen ShiltonCloseKristen ShiltonESPN NHL reporterKristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.Follow on X, Greg WyshynskiCloseGreg WyshynskiSenior NHL writerGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.Follow on XMultiple AuthorsFeb 4, 2026, 06:21 PM ET
play1:47Why Quinn Hughes’ trade to Wild puts rest of NHL on noticeGreg Wyshynski breaks down why he loves the trade of Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild.
Artemi Panarin capitalizes on the power play (0:44)Artemi Panarin scores on the power play for New York Rangers (0:44)
Why Quinn Hughes’ trade to Wild puts rest of NHL on noticeGreg Wyshynski breaks down why he loves the trade of Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild.
Dec. 12: Wild land Hughes in a December blockbuster
Dec. 12: Oilers land Jarry, send Skinner to Penguins in goalie swap
The 2025-26 NHL trade season is off to a busy start. That continued with the New York Rangers sending Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings right before the NHL Olympic roster freeze, which runs through Feb. 22.
–The Vancouver Canucks sent Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a pair of picks and defenseman Cole Clayton.
–Previously, the Vancouver Canucks traded Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild for Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren and a 2026 first-round pick. Earlier, the Pittsburgh Penguins sent goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Sam Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers for goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak and a 2029 second-round pick.
Throughout the season up until the March 6 deadline, ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski will be grading each side on all of the big swaps, with the latest deals highest up on this page.
Los Angeles Kings acquire winger Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers for a conditional third-round pick (2026), a conditional fourth-round pick (2028) and forward Liam Greentree. The Rangers retained 50% of Panarin’s $11,642,857 cap hit.
I know Rangers fans are going to look at this grade and groan and start chanting “fire Drury” at their screens, but let’s consider the facts:
• Panarin had a full no-movement clause. And not one of those NMCs that teams give away like samples at a mall food court, but a legitimate one they needed to give Panarin in 2019 to lure him as a coveted free agent going to a then-rebuilding team.
• He had a desire to go to a team willing to give him a contract extension now, so he wouldn’t have to go through the headaches of unrestricted free agency this summer.
• According to NHL sources, he would waive the no-movement clause and sign an extension for only one team: the Kings. (OK, probably two, considering the team Panarin really wants to play for, the Florida Panthers, didn’t have anywhere near the cap space flexibility to welcome him to the South Beach party. As one NHL executive speculated, the Panthers not getting deep into the Panarin pursuit probably means they expect Aleksander Barkov to be using his cap space again this season.)
The way the Panarin trade derby worked: Rangers general manager Chris Drury opened the process to teams that were willing to trade for him and extend him, which is what Panarin wanted. They made their pitches, but one source told ESPN that it was essentially a group of teams trying to persuade him not to sign with Los Angeles, the desired location for Panarin and his family. No one was able to get Hollywood off his mind.
So the market was essentially one team. Drury’s options were trade Panarin (and retain 50% on his salary, which is fine in a lost season) for whatever the Rangers could conjure up from a team that had all the leverage, or have him walk away for nothing this summer, having already declared he wasn’t going to be part of the team moving forward.
I know this isn’t going to be popular, but considering those circumstances, I think the Rangers did OK here.
Greentree was ranked second among the organization’s prospects in Corey Pronman’s prospect pipeline rankings for The Athletic last August. Greentree was drafted 26th in 2024 and is in his fourth season with the OHL Windsor Spitfires, coming off a 49-goal, 119-point campaign last season.
His calling card is his size: The 20-year-old winger is 6-foot-4 and upwards of 215 pounds. Greentree is a power forward in dimension but not always on the ice, where he is more a skilled winger than a tractor trailer. I’ve heard comparisons to Matt Boldy stylistically, which the Rangers would take any day.
Greentree has a high ceiling, but there are red flags. His 45 points in 34 games shows regression this season in Windsor. He hasn’t played pro hockey yet. Plus, the Rangers haven’t exactly had the greatest success in maximizing the potential of their prospects. But they certainly view him as a high-end prospect internally.
The conditional third-rounder will be the better of the Kings’ and the Dallas Stars’ in the 2026 NHL draft unless Los Angeles wins a playoff round, in which case it becomes a second-rounder. Expect a prayer circle later this season at Madison Square Garden that the Kings don’t meet the Edmonton Oilers again in the first round.
The Rangers get a 2028 fourth-round pick if the Kings win two playoff rounds this season. They probably could have asked for more in that scenario, but again, that’s the reality of the trade market.
The Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning were among the teams in the mix for Panarin, but he wanted to live and play in Los Angeles, so Drury had no other options.
There are reasons for Rangers fans to chant “fire Drury” to their heart’s desire, what with the team last in the East and on its second rebuild in eight years. Bellow until you’re hoarse. But save your breath on this deal involving a no-movement clause he didn’t hand out and a player wielding it to go to one destination only. There was no winning this trade.
This trade was already a win for getting a dynamic point-producing winger for conditional picks and an expendable (in their eyes) prospect. To not have to extend a player who turns 35 in October for the term he was reportedly seeking was a huge reason I’m grading this a little higher than I might have otherwise.
Panarin remains an elite playmaking winger. He has 57 points in 52 games on a terrible team this season, after 89 points in 80 games last season. He is sixth in the NHL in points over the past three seasons (266 in 214 games) and seventh in goals (105) during that span — the kind of elite offensive talent who is as deadly setting up goals as he is finishing chances.
The Kings are 28th in goals per game this season (2.57). Whether that’s on coach Jim Hiller’s system or a lack of overall talent, bringing Panarin on should obviously trend that higher. If nothing else, a player who is ninth in power-play points over the past three seasons (87) should be a boon to a power play that’s clicking at 15.6% this season in L.A.
Holland was hired by the Kings to span two eras: the final season for Anze Kopitar and then the post-Kopitar seasons with a core of Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala, Adrian Kempe, Brandt Clarke, however long Drew Doughty wants to play and Darcy Kuemper in goal.
In the short term, Panarin at a minimum gives the Kings a boost to make the playoffs in a competitive race and then a puncher’s chance to get out of the first round for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014. As modest as that sounds, that was essentially the mandate given to Holland.
After this season, they have Panarin at $11 million average annual value with the cap going up and Kopitar ($7 million) coming off it. That’s a good chunk of change and does impact their flexibility to do other things, which is concerning because this team needs more than Panarin to challenge for a Stanley Cup. Between Panarin, Fiala and Kempe, the Kings have nearly $30 million on the wing next season and need to replace their No. 1 center. Woof.
But the two-year term, after Panarin was seeking double that? That’s a win for Holland and team president Luc Robitaille, who I understand pushed hard for Panarin.
I realize there’s a nihilistic response to this trade that asks, “Why make it?” when the Kings aren’t nearly as good as the Avalanche, Wild or Stars, and probably not the Golden Knights, and they’ve lost to the Oilers in four straight seasons. So, what, don’t add the sixth-best scorer of the past three seasons for picks you won’t miss and an unproven prospect at 50% retention? Rebuild? Fold the team?
The cost of acquisition and the term of the contract make this worth doing, even if the AAV on Panarin’s next deal doesn’t do the team any favors in roster construction. It’s a three-year window play for Kings GM Ken Holland. After that, it probably won’t be his problem anyway. — Greg Wyshynski
GM Patrik Allvin lowered his first-round pick asking price for Kiefer Sherwood, and moved the forward to the San Jose Sharks for a pair of second-round selections (in 2026 and 2027) and defenseman Cole Clayton. Sherwood — a pending unrestricted free agent — had been available via for months before Allvin settled on a trade partner.
Vancouver knows where it’s at, and that’s currently 32nd in the NHL. Sherwood is a player who several teams coveted, and Allvin worked out quite a deal with San Jose GM Mike Grier.
The incoming draft selections give the Canucks two second-round picks in 2026 to go along with a pair of first-round choices. And they were missing a second-round pick in 2027, so this deal replaces that as well.
Allvin had to do his part in making it a smarter transaction for Grier, which is why he takes on Clayton’s contract. Still, the 25-year-old is a right-shot defenseman who will immediately report to Vancouver’s AHL team in Abbotsford but could potentially develop into a useful player for the Canucks as they go through a retooling phase.
This was an interesting decision by the Sharks. Perhaps the grade here really should be “incomplete.” Because San Jose has traded for an injured player (Sherwood hasn’t been available since Jan. 10 due to an undisclosed ailment) who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July. While San Jose is in the mix for a wild-card spot, parting with high-end draft capital for a forward they may not even keep for six months is more aggressive than you’d expect the Sharks to be.