Artemi Panarin

Artemi Sergeyevich Panarin (Арте́мий Серге́евич Пана́рин; born 30 October 1991), nicknamed the "Breadman", or simply "Bread", is a Russian professional ice hockey winger and alternate captain for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He has previously played for Vityaz Chekov, Ak Bars Kazan, SKA Saint Petersburg, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Originally an undrafted player, Panarin began his professional career playing in the Kontinental Hockey League in his native Russia.

Panarin was not selected in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and began his professional hockey career in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with HC Vityaz.

On 31 January 2013, having produced 18 points in 40 games, Panarin was traded to SKA Saint Petersburg in exchange for a draft pick.

In the 2014–15 season, Panarin 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.

He was named to the KHL first all-star team for the 2014–15 season.

He made his NHL debut in 2015 after signing an entry-level contract with the Blackhawks.

Panarin won the Calder Memorial Trophy in the 2015–16 season as the league's top rookie.

Panarin was born and raised in Korkino.

He developed an early interest in ice skating.

His maternal grandfather, a former amateur hockey player, encouraged Panarin to play hockey when he was five years old.

He helped train Panarin and would often drive him to hockey tournaments in Tyumen.

Panarin attended the Traktor Ice Hockey school in Chelyabinsk, where he trained six days a week for six months a year.

On 29 April 2015, Panarin signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks.

He scored his first career NHL goal on 7 October 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.

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.

Panarin 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 Panarin as a major contributor to his successful season.

Panarin was also awarded the 2015–16 Kharlamov Trophy, given to the best professional Russian hockey player by the Russian Hall of Fame.

He also earned a $2.55 million bonus pursuant to his contract for finishing the season in the top-ten among forwards in scoring.

Panarin expressed his gratitude to Kane for helping him reach his contract incentives by gifting him a luxury watch.

On 17 February 2016, in another game against the Rangers, Panarin scored his first career NHL hat-trick.

Panarin scored his first Stanley Cup playoff goal on 15 April in Game 2 of the 2016 playoffs against the St. Louis Blues.

During the playoffs, he registered seven points.

Panarin was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top rookie, at the 2016 NHL Awards on 22 June.

In the 2016–17 season, Panarin built upon his rookie season, continuing his offensive role playing alongside Kane.

On 9 November 2016 in a game against the St. Louis Blues, Panarin recorded his first career Gordie Howe hat-trick.

On 26 December, Panarin 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 23 June 2017, Panarin 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.

Panarin had a record-tying achievement of picking up five primary assists in one game on 8 December 2017 to help Columbus defeat the New Jersey Devils 5–3.

On 20 March 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 3 April, Panarin surpassed the Blue Jackets' franchise points record after scoring 80 points in 80 games, finishing the season with 82.

The following season, Panarin would break his own record, setting a new Blue Jackets-franchise point-scoring record with 87 points.

On 1 July 2019, Panarin signed a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the New York Rangers, worth an annual average of $11.642 million.

Panarin scored his first goal as a Ranger on a power play during the 2019–20 season opener against the Winnipeg Jets on 3 October, and also notched an assist on Jacob Trouba's first goal with the team.

By 5 October 2019, Panarin 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 9 January 2020, Panarin 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.