Panarin was part of the Russian men's junior team that won a gold medal at the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Russia was trailing Canada 3–0 in third period of the championship game; Panarin made the score 3–1 with 17:27 remaining in the third period to prompt a Russia comeback. He would go on to score the game winner with 4:38 left to play en route to a 5–3 Russia win.