Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

We can say that everything is falling apart for the New York Rangers. Involved in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference alongside the Montreal Canadiens, Peter Laviolette’s squad suffered 5-1 and 8-5 losses at the worst possible moments this week, and they’ve pretty much knocked themselves out of the playoffs.

Forward Artemi Panarin recently opened up to the media about the situation.

lIt’s terrible!
I don’t know.
We have to win games, but we’re not.
If we keep playing like this, we’re going to miss the playoffs.”

– Artemi Panarin

That was Wednesday.. and since then, he outright said the season is over for the Rangers and that the Montreal Canadiens have overtaken them. Wow.

Artemi Panarin and the Rangers wave the white flag to the Montreal Canadiens

A similar sentiment was expressed by Panarin’s teammate Jonny Brodzinski, who’s clearly discouraged by the situation.

“We have to win immediately.
We need to win and we also need help from other teams.
It’s [frustrating] to be in this position.”

– Jonny Brodzinski

Because of these losses, the Rangers now have less than a 1% chance of making the playoffs, according to Moneypuck.com.

Big changes coming for the New York Rangers, and Artemi Panarin may have had enough

While the playoffs are in the air in Montreal, things may be heading for a major shakeup in New York.

Rangers GM Chris Drury made several trades during the season, but it seems they weren’t enough to get the team into the playoffs after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2023-24.

Most of the Rangers’ core remains under contract for several more seasons, and it’ll be interesting to see what the organization does in the offseason to avoid another playoff miss.

Panarin must be jealous of his fellow countryman Ivan Demidov right now!