Perhaps all Artemi Panarin needs to do is shave his head?
Panarin certainly thinks so.
“I had to change something,” the New York Rangers’ 34-year-old star winger said. “Next stop, left stick for me.”
With just two goals and seven points to open 2025-26, Panarin has been far from his usual productive self. In his six seasons with the Blueshirts, he’s averaged more than a point per game, peaking in 2023-24, when he had a career-high 120 points in 82 games. Fittingly, that career-high season came after Panarin shaved his head.
In 2023-24, Panarin also had 44 power play points — an average of more than half a power play point per game — as the Rangers’ man advantage operated at a 26.4% clip, good enough for third in the league.
So far in 2025-26, the Rangers have converted on just 4 of their 36 power plays through 14 games. The man-advantage unit, of which Panarin is still a key cog, has operated at a league-worst 11.1%.
Part of this is a combination of poor puck luck and the Rangers’ inability to finish prime scoring chances. According to Natural Stat Trick, New York has generated 147 shot attempts in 5-on-4 situations, which is the third-highest in the league. On the power play, they’ve controlled a league-leading 93.6% of the shot attempts. When New York is on the power play, they have 94.4% of the expected goal share, which is the fourth-highest in the league.
The numbers back up the lack of finishing theory. New York’s power play currently has a league-worst 5.4% shooting percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick, despite generating 41 high-danger chances, sixth-best in the league.
In the Rangers’ 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday — which was the club’s sixth consecutive home game without a win — the power play made the difference, but not for New York. Carolina, which currently owns the NHL’s second-worst unit with a conversion rate of 11.4%, opened the scoring with a power play goal. It stood as the game-winner.
The Rangers’ power play went 0-for-3 in the loss.
“I don’t know,” Mika Zibanejad said after Tuesday’s game. “We keep talking about having good looks, we keep talking about the stuff that we do well and try to build on it. I feel like we’re three or four, maybe five, great A’s that we don’t score.
“We have to find a way to put the puck in the net. I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of something like this before, in terms of getting looks, not scoring, so that’s frustrating.”
Added Adam Fox: “Power plays are difference makers. They get one, we don’t, and that’s the difference right there, especially early in the game, when you can get the lead.”
Fox explained that the Rangers’ man advantage has won them games in the past, but “it’s definitely cost us a few games this year.”
“Similar to five on five, we get a little frustrated as we start doing things differently, and lose that momentum. And thought we did that a little bit on our last power play.”
After Tuesday’s game, Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan credited his club’s power play with generating quality scoring chances, but hinted that the Rangers would consider making adjustments at some point.
At the Rangers’ practice on Thursday at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, Will Cuylle skated with the first unit, positioned at the front of the net. Cuylle replaced Alexis Lafrenière, who has one power play point amid a disappointing one goal, six point start to the season.
Sullivan said after practice that he wanted the Rangers to “fight harder” in front of the net to create more offense off of rebounds by going to the net. Moving Cuylle, who is 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, to the front of the net gives New York a stronger physical presence over the 6-foot-2, 191-pound Lafrenière.
Playing the net front is a skilled position, Sullivan explained. He feels Cuylle is up to the challenge.
“When pucks get sifted from the blue line and there’s all kinds of traffic in front, maybe it doesn’t get to the goalie,” Sullivan explained. “If it does, he can’t see it. He might make a positional save, but he can’t control the rebound. Sometimes it just hits the mass of humanity at the front of the net and the puck lays somewhere defending that next play is really difficult.”
Sullivan and his staff have studied how goals have been scored across the league in recent seasons. The conversion rate on these types of chances, he said, is very high.
The Rangers will also get Vincent Trocheck back from LTIR at some point. Trocheck hasn’t played since the second game of the season on Oct. 9, as he’s been out with an upper body injury, and recently returned to practice in a non-contact jersey.
Trocheck will make the team’s single game road trip to Detroit, but will not play, according to Sullivan.
The Rangers will look to get themselves, and the power play, back on track Friday against the Red Wings. They return to Madison Square Garden Saturday to face the New York Islanders.
“A lot of goals are scored around the net in the NHL,” Cuylle said. “I think we just got to do a better job of getting traffic there, and not letting the goalie see the pucks, and I think just loose pucks around the net, just banging them in.”
