INSIDER: Kings have to let Artemi Panarin "do what makes him special" to get the most out of their new star player

“Very good defensively, he’ll backcheck a lot and we’re going to use him on the PK.”

First day back and Anze Kopitar’s got the jokes.

The captain was asked what he expected the newest member of the LA Kings, Artemi Panarin, to bring to the group and he certainly delivered with the exact answer we expected, right?

Really though, to add a player of that caliber, Kopitar knows exactly what he was brought in to do.

“He’ll give us a spark on the power play, offensive play, I mean you guys have seen him play enough, we’ve played against him enough to know, even going back to his Chicago days,” Kopitar said. “As soon as he got to the league, you could tell he was going to be a very good offensive player and he didn’t disappoint.”

While Kopitar was obviously joking, you do have to think a little bit about how a player like Panarin fits in.

The Kings are not exactly known for their offensive play. In fact, just one team in the NHL has scored fewer goals this season than Los Angeles. General Manager Ken Holland and Head Coach Jim Hiller both spoke about exactly why the Kings targeted Panarin and that is to add more offensive production to the group. To add pop in the offensive zone. To jumpstart a struggling power play. To score and set up goals, as he has throughout his entire career.

For a team that preaches structure, defensive responsibility and keeping the puck out of their net first and foremost, how does a player as gifted as Panarin, with a different approach, fit in?

It’s a fair question.

Over the last 30 years, the Kings have had exactly one 90-point season and that was Kopitar’s should’ve been Hart Trophy campaign in 2017-18, as he collected a career-high 92 points. Panarin has cracked the 90-point mark four times himself over the last six seasons, on top of 89 points last season and a 1.09 points-per-game pace this season, which translates to 90 points over 82 games. So, he’s clearly doing something right at the offensive end of the ice.

The Kings aren’t going to drastically overhaul any systems midseason, as Holland said during his midseason availability following the trade, but will Hiller and the coaching staff make room for Panarin to do what he does?

“We have to let him do what he does, what makes him special.”

Refreshing to hear from Hiller after yesterday’s practice.

The Kings didn’t acquire Panarin and sign him to an extension with an eight-figure salary-cap hit to prevent goals. They did so to help score them. It’s not going to help anyone for a player to freewheel but Panarin is as creative as they come and as gifted as they come at distributing the puck in the offensive zone. He holds on to the puck as well as anyone and finds teammates for one-timers and chances from the slot.

Certainly, they want him to do those things in Los Angeles as well and at least in what they’re saying right now, they’re going to allow him the freedom to do that.

“He’ll come in and do what we do but we're not going to strip him of what he does, we have to be careful in that,” Hiller said. “He's going to do his thing. I've talked to him enough. I've seen him play. He's going to integrate himself into what he has to do defensively, but he's going to have to just be who he is.”

Even in his first practice, you could tell that who he is, is a player who can make things happen with the puck on his stick. Even in the most basic of drills during a first practice back, sometimes just when he was stickhandling on his own, you could see that he oozed ability with the puck.

On Day 1, Panarin skated alongside Alex Laferriere and Taylor Ward. While Ward has certainly stated his case to remain in the everyday lineup in another spot, it’ll likely be Adrian Kempe in that spot once he returns from the 2026 Winter Olympics, which ended for him yesterday in the quarterfinals. More to come on that line, which has a ton of potential, closer to the first game back.

Laferriere said that Panarin jumped out right away with the plays he was able to both see and execute, making for an eventful first day.

“He’s such an incredible player and he’s going to be a huge piece for our team,” Laferriere added of Panarin. “Some of the plays that he was making out there were unbelievable. I’m just trying to read off him and just try to find the open ice, because I know he’s going to find me. He’s an unbelievable passer and can score a lot of goals. He’s a really fun player to play with.”

As Panarin continues to settle in and get more comfortable, those things will almost certainly continue to shine through.

Panarin said he arrived in Los Angeles three days ago, so he’s still getting used to everything. Came during a rainy week and he joked he’s still waiting to see the sun, but making his stay more comfortable is that he and his family are staying at former Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov’s house, which helped to make the move a bit smoother for himself, his wife and their two young children.

We might just be seeing the beginning for Panarin as well, who has not played a game since January 26. While in New York, he was held out of the lineup to prevent against injury in the event of a trade, which ultimately saw him moved to the Kings. So, on Day 1, there was a bit of conditioning to work through, but all in all he had himself a good day at the office.

“Little bit tough for conditioning, stuff like that, because of the pretty long break, but it was fun,” Panarin said of his first day. “Just fun to see the guys around [today], because I skated by myself a couple of times, which is not as fun. Looking forward to it.”

The benefit that Panarin has here is that unlike most in-season acquisitions, he almost has a mini training camp to get up to speed.

Last season, when the Kings acquired Andrei Kuzmenko from Philadelphia, he simply slotted into the lineup immediately. For Panarin, he likened it to almost like joining a new team during the summer, when you get that ramp-up period. Certainly something he is looking forward to as he starts to get to know his new teammates both on and off the ice.

“I think it’s perfect, it's kind of like if you switch teams in the summer, you have time to meet the guys and then just at least have a couple practices, even more right now,” he added. “Usually, guys have got to play the next day, on the other side of the country, so it's easier for me.”

It’ll be interesting to continue to watch Panarin over the next week or so, as he integrates.

We know that his 5-on-5 linemates are expected to be Kempe and Laferriere and we learned that not only will Panarin slot onto the first power-play unit, but he’ll likely be the guy really running that unit from the left side.

Panarin isn’t a 1-for-1 substitution on the man advantage for forward Kevin Fiala, who will miss the remainder of the season due to injury, but Hiller indicated that the Kings will have changes both in terms of personnel and style to their power play with Panarin involved.

Yesterday’s practice was more about getting the legs going again for the players, with lots of skating, lots of flow drills and lots of conditioning. As we approach the return to game action on February 25 against Vegas, the Kings will almost certainly practice the power play and it’ll be interesting to see where all the pieces slot in. With Kempe likely not expected back on the ice until early next week, we’ll have to see where everything shakes out. That’s for another day, though.

For the here and now, it was nice to begin the Panarin era in Los Angeles with a good day of practice. More to come, as the Kings look to find their footing heading into a 26-game sprint to the finish.