Just as the NHL roster freeze kicked in, the New York Rangers pulled off the biggest move. They sent Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings. While the Kings find themselves with a superstar addition, the Flyers are among other teams that come out as winners in a trade they weren't even involved in.
The Panarin-to-LA trade, as first reported by @AdamSchefter and @emilymkaplan, is for forward prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick. It'll be the better of LA's two thirds, but if the Kings win one playoff round, it becomes a second. If they win two rounds,…
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) February 4, 2026
I know what you might be thinking. What do the Flyers have to do with this, considering they weren't a part of the deal? Before the trade, Panarin had spent the majority of his career not only in the Eastern Conference but specifically in the Metropolitan Division. That means that the Flyers were very familiar with Panarin, and he had consistent success against them.
The Flyers saw Panarin twice this season, and he scored two goals in each game, finishing with five total points as the Rangers won both games. But it goes beyond this season to prove why Philadelphia is more than happy to see Panarin head out west.
Panarin has tortured the Flyers throughout his career
Despite playing the first two years of his career in the Western Conference, Panarin has played against the Flyers 38 times, the second most of his career. Only the Islanders have seen him more at 40 games. But he’s made the most of his time against Philadelphia.
His 19 goals versus the Flyers are tied with the Penguins for the most of his career. And his 51 points are the most he has against any team. It’s extremely rare to see Panarin go pointless when he faces the Flyers. More often than not, he’s even registering at least two points. Panarin has failed to register a point in only nine career games against the Flyers. And he's totaled at least two in 15 games.
The Flyers will have to see Panarin one more time this season when Philadelphia travels to Los Angeles next month. But they'll take the trade-off of only having to see him twice a year instead of upwards of four. And not to mention seeing the Rangers lose one of their best players. They still have to deal with Mika Zibanejad, who has 46 points in 47 career games against the Flyers, but that's not important right now.
The only way things could've gotten better for the Flyers was by acquiring the winger himself. While that was hardly a realistic possibility, seeing Panarin leave the conference altogether was the next best option. A division rival loses a key piece of their team, and the Flyers didn't have to do anything to see it happen.