At 11.6mil AAV, a 17% drop off in scoring from reg season to playoffs is not acceptable. He picked up a ppg while playing an uninspired non impactful perimeter game - the opposite of what you need in the playoffs. It’s absolutely valid to criticize him for it. If we reup him it better be at a discount. At 11mil? NO THANKS.
We’d ALL want Zib gone first looking at the last 18 months, but him being a trainwreck doesn’t excuse Panarin. Anyway, neither is gone before their deal is up unless they agree to it.
Yeah a few more things to this.
- He wasn't at a ppg. We don't need to round up (you weren't doing it.)
- He was largely invisible for 2 of the 3 series they played last year. No one should forget that he went nearly 9 periods with out registering a SOG vs Washington.
- His PPG as a Ranger drops off by more than
half a point a game from post season to playoffs. He's lead the team in scoring every single season he's been here, hes yet to do it in the playoffs a
single time.
- His best run (last year) still saw him be the 3rd best player on his line.
He's the highest paid winger in the league who is straight up going from hart level (at his best) in the RS to.... okay complementary winger who goes into panic mode and becomes a turnover machine in the PS. I don't expect him to pace 120 points in the playoffs (No one does that unless they're the elite of the elite, he is not that) but what he's given this team in the playoffs hasn't even been close to acceptable.
Last year was better for the Carolina series alone (it was better overall) but that still wasn't close to enough.
It is a bit weird to be that Zibanejad gets plates of shit thrown at him while Panarin gets a free pass from a large portion of this fan base when the former has been a
demonstrably better producer of offense in the playoffs than the latter (
11 more points to be exact.)