The major change this year was a post-season run with a major Head coaching change with Gerard Gallant taking the from former Head Coach David Quinn back in June 2021. Gallant would help the Rangers reach the Eastern Conference Finals losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Even after a solid season a good Playoff run you would think things were looking good in the Big Apple. However, Things may not be as good as they seem in New York as there may be a rift between new GM Chris Drury. Chris Drury wasn't the GM that signed Panarin that was former GM Jeff Gorton who's now the Executive Vice President of the Montreal Canadiens.
There's been rumours that Drury Panarin have had issues behind closed doors, But the trouble for Drury is that Panarin has a full No Move Clause for the full 4 years of his contract, which would make a trade difficult.
Panarin who can change a game at will sometimes wasn't on a factor in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it would appear that Drury isn't fully bought in on Panarin for the $11,642,000 dollars he's paid annually until the end of the 2025-26th season.
Panarin had the 16 points in 20 games, which is almost a point per game pace at .8 PPG doesn't seem like a superstar performance and didn't impress his Gm either.