Artemi Panarin releases dreary update after playoff collapse

The New York Rangers are heading for an early summer after their Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs setback against their bitter rival New Jersey Devils, and more than a few top names on their roster are facing understandable scrutiny and criticism for their lack of performance when it mattered the most. 

The likes of Mika Zibanejad, Patrick Kane and Vincent Trocheck only lit the lamp once, while the team's highest paid forward in Artemi Panarin was only able to register two assists. 

For the player affectionately known to fans and media as the "Bread Man", Panarin knows that he came up well short of expectations, especially after racking up 92 points during the 2022-23 regular season.

"I feel pretty empty right now," Panarin would admit. 

Panarin would then go on to say that while he was excited coming into this year's postseason, he once again would not get it done - but doesn't want to make excuses. 

“Honestly, last playoff I turn over, like, every puck,” Panarin said. “This year I don’t do that, not that bad… I don’t want to say excuses, like it’s mental and I feel terrible in playoffs. Every game I come in excited, I try again and again and again. And it not work, not work, not work. I don’t know.”

The Rangers certainly need Panarin to make it work sooner rather than later, and with a new head coach on the way after the team split with Gerard Gallant, perhaps next season is the year that he'll be able to put it all together in the most important time of the season.