It’s not the craziest idea to consider dressing Zac Jones as a seventh defenseman to help ease that burden. That seems more useful than four teams and 2:43 TOI for Matt Rempe, which is all the rookie forward got in Game 5.
There have been defining moments for the 2023-24 team MVP, with all four of his playoff goals recorded as game-winners. That has to count for something.
It’s also worth noting that Panarin’s 67.36% xGF leads the team in this series, according to Natural Stat Trick, with a 49-26 advantage in scoring chances and a 105-83 advantage in attempts shooting when he is on the ice at five against. five. But you could argue that much of that credit goes to his teammates, Trocheck and Lafreniere, with Panarin a distant third in efficiency among that trio.
The reality is that the 32-year-old has been much less visible than he was while putting up a career-high 120 points during the regular season. He hasn’t scored since Game 3 of the second round against Carolina, an eight-game drought, with just three assists in five ECF games.