New York Islanders: Going all in on Panarin and Bobrovsky
By Ed Stein
Artemi Panarin
Artemi Panarin is by far and away most prolific scorer available this summer. Last season, he scored 87 points (28 goals, 59 assists) in 79 regular season contests. He was very dangerous on the man advantage with 18 points (6g, 12a). Those numbers are very close to his career average, which are incredibly consistent. Over four NHL seasons, Panarin has averaged 80 games and scored 80 points (29g, 51a).
He’s been almost equally consistent in the postseason as well. Panarin has reached the playoff in every season of his career, scoring 26 points (9g, 17a) in 27 games. If the Isles are looking for a steady scoring threat to anchor their offense, the 27-year-old is about the best they could get.
Now is the time to pull the trigger. Panarin is not only the best scorer available in this free agent class but also the next one as well. For a team on the rise, those are important considerations.
Brooks estimates that the Russian point scoring machine is looking for a top 10 annual salary of eight years at $90M total (about $11.2M average annual value). The New York Islanders have the cap space to make it happen, but there are other considerations that need to be taken into consideration.