Artemi Panarin

**Artemi Panarin** (born Artemi Sergeyevich Panarin on October 30, 1991 in Korkino, Russia) is a Russian professional ice hockey winger who currently is playing for the New York Rangers of the NHL.

## Playing Career

Artemi was not selected in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and began his professional hockey career in the Kontinental Hockey League with HC Vityaz. On 31 January 2013, having produced 18 points in 40 games, he was traded to SKA Saint Petersburg in exchange for a draft pick.

In the 2014–15 season, he recorded 26 goals and 62 points in 54 appearances for SKA. He played a significant role in the team's championship run, scoring 20 points in 20 playoff games. Artemi was named to the KHL first all-star team for the 2014–15 season.

On April 29, 2015, Artemi signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. He scored his first career NHL goal on October 7, 2015 against Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, the first goal scored by the Blackhawks in their first game of the 2015–16 season.

On February 17, 2016, in another game against the Rangers, he scored his first career NHL hat-trick. He appeared in 80 games for the Blackhawks during the 2015–16 season and recorded 30 goals and 47 assists for 77 points, which led all NHL rookies and ranked within the top-ten amongst all NHL skaters.

Artemi found instant chemistry with Patrick Kane and fellow Russian Artem Anisimov on the Blackhawks' second line. Kane (who was the NHL's MVP and leading scorer in 2015–16) cited Artemi as a major contributor to his successful season.

On April 15, 2016, Artemi scored his first Stanley Cup playoff goal in Game 2 of the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs against the St. Louis Blues; during the playoffs, he registered 7 points.

He was later awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy and was also awarded the 2015–16 Kharlamov Trophy (which is given to the best professional Russian hockey player by the Russian Hall of Fame).

Artemi also earned a $2.55 million bonus pursuant to his contract for finishing the season in the top-ten among forwards in scoring. He expressed his gratitude to Kane for helping him reach his contract incentives by gifting him a luxury watch.

In the 2016–17 season, Artemi built upon his rookie season, continuing his offensive role playing alongside Kane. On 9 November 2016 in a game against the St. Louis Blues, he recorded his first career Gordie Howe hat-trick.

On December 26, 2016, Artemi signed a new two-year, $12 million contract with Chicago effective for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. He completed his second North American season scoring a career-best 31 goals in collecting 74 points in 82 games and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team.

On June 23, 2017, Artemi was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets (along with Tyler Motte and a sixth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft) in exchange for Brandon Saad, Anton Forsberg and a fifth-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

He had a record-tying achievement of picking up five primary assists in one game on December 8, 2017 to help Columbus defeat the New Jersey Devils 5–3. On March 20, 2018, Panarin scored his second career hat-trick (and added an assist) to clinch a 5–3 Columbus win over the New York Rangers.

On April 3, 2017, Artemi surpassed the Blue Jackets' franchise points record after scoring 80 points in 80 games, finishing the season with 82. The following season, he would break his own record, setting a new Blue Jackets-franchise point-scoring record with 87 points.

On July 1, 2019, Panarin signed a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the New York Rangers, worth an annual average of $11.642 million. He scored his first goal on the power play in the season opener against the Winnipeg Jets and also notched an assist on Jacob Trouba's first goal with the team.

As of October 5, 2019, he had the third-most assists and was tied for second in the NHL in points on the road since starting the start of his NHL career.

On January 9, 2020, Artemi became the first player in Rangers history to have 60 points in the first 43 career games as a Ranger, edging out Wayne Gretzky who had 59.

On January 13, 2020, he made Rangers history three times during the game. He became the first Ranger to record six three-point games in a nine-game span (six goals, 16 assists).

He also became the second Ranger to record nine plus points in four consecutive games, and the second Ranger in last 40 seasons with 67 points through the team's first 45 games.

Artemi concluded the shortened 2019–20 regular season by recording a career-high 95-points points from 32 goals and 63 assists. He finished tied for third overall in scoring among all NHL skaters.

## International Play

Artemi 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; he 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.

Artemi made his Russian senior team debut, when he was included on the roster, in one of the rounds of EuroHockeyTour in the 2013–14 season.

He was selected to the top senior squad for Russia's hockey team in the 2015 IIHF World Championship, earning a silver medal. He recorded ten points in ten games. He also played in the 2016 IIHF World Championship where Russia earned a bronze medal.

Early in the tournament, head coach Oleg Znarok formed a highly-productive line of Artemi (six goals and nine assists) and his former SKA Saint Petersburg teammates Vadim Shipachyov (6 goals and 12 assists) and Evgenii Dadonov (six goals and seven assists). He, Shipachyov and Dadonov finished as the top three scorers of the tournament.

He also represented Russia at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

## Personal Life

Artemi was born and raised in Korkino. He developed an early interest in ice skating. His maternal grandfather (who was a former amateur hockey player) encouraged him to play hockey when he was five years old.

Artemi's grandfather helped train him and would often drive him to hockey tournaments in Tyumen. He attended the Traktor Ice Hockey school in Chelyabinsk, where he trained six days a week for six months a year.

Artemi moved to the United States in August 2015 after joining the Chicago Blackhawks. He did not speak English at the time and moved in with a Russian-born family who were Chicago residents. The family helped him transition to his new surroundings and culture. He also has a personal translator who helps him conduct interviews before and after games.

His fellow Russian teammates, Viktor Tikhonov (who briefly played with the Blackhawks in 2015) and Artem Anisimov also helped him understand English while playing in North America.

He was affectionately nicknamed the "Bread Man" (a reference to the Panera Bread restaurant chain) by his teammates and coaches on the Blackhawks.