Artemi Panarin breaks record held by The Great One!

When the New York Rangers signed Artemi Panarin to a seven-year, $81.5 million dollar contract in the offseason, they and everyone else around the league knew they were getting a special player. Perhaps they didn’t realize just how special he would be. With the season now half over, Panarin has bested a Rangers’ record set by “The Great One” himself, Wayne Gretzky.

With 43 games gone in the season, Panarin has a whopping 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists). He needed just 60 to surpass the record set by No.99 for most points through the first 43 games. Gretzky had 16 goals and 43 assists for 59 points through the same amount of games in 1996-97. 

Panarin leads the team in goals, assists and points, easily surpassing the next closest player in each category. He’s currently on place for somewhere close to 120 points at the end of this season. No Ranger has reached the 100-point mark in years. Jaromir Jgar had 123 in 2005-06, the last time a member of the New York Rangers broke the 100-point mark. In 2016-17, Matt Zuccarello was the leading scorer on the Rangers with 59 points in 80 games, less than what Panarin has now in 43.

Panarin is one of the highest paid players in the league. And while it’s a small sample size, he’s definitely playing like it so far. Not only is he the most prolific members of the Rangers, he’s currently sixth in the league in points and just nine away from the current leader (Connor McDavid, 70 points). He’s also ninth in goals and seventh in assists. 

A special player, indeed.