{"id":495722,"date":"2026-02-28T14:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T14:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/495722\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T14:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T14:07:09","slug":"ex-rangers-star-artemi-panarin-gifts-rolex-to-kings-mascot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/495722\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Rangers star Artemi Panarin gifts Rolex to Kings mascot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Kings\u2019 mascot gave up his jersey number for Artemi Panarin, and in return, the ex-Rangers star decided to ice him out.<\/p>\n<p>Panarin, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/05\/sports\/artemi-panarin-reveals-why-kings-were-perfect-fit-after-rangers-breakup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who was traded to the Kings<\/a> shortly before the Olympic break earlier this month, was looking to adopt the jersey No. 72 upon arriving in Los Angeles. But the number was already taken by the team\u2019s mascot, Bailey.<\/p>\n<p>A number trade then commenced between the two parties, with Panarin giving the mascot a Rolex watch in return for the No. 72 jersey, with the Kings posting the exchange on social media Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Since the two will never be on the ice at the same time, Bailey will continue to wear the number in the stands, which seems to be a clear win-win for the mascot.<\/p>\n<p>The reason behind Bailey wearing No. 72 is \u201cbecause it\u2019s always 72 degrees in Los Angeles,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/news\/topic\/short-shifts\/artemi-panarin-los-angeles-kings-gifts-rolex-watch-to-mascot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">according to NHL.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.79980469;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38629398\" width=\"472\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/122388319.jpg\" alt=\"Artemi Panarin gifts a Rolex watch to the LA Kings mascot.\" class=\"wp-image-38629398\"  \/>Bailey got a Rolex in exchange for allowing Artemi Paranin to wear the No. 72 jersey. LA Kings on X<\/p>\n<p>After agreeing to waive his no-movement clause with the Rangers, the 34-year-old Panarin said he \u201ctried to find a team for myself that was where I wanted to be\u201d while facilitating the trade to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>The Rangers shipped Panarin off to the Kings on Feb. 4, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/04\/sports\/liam-greentree-brings-big-game-to-rangers-as-artemi-panarin-return\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">getting prospect Liam Greentree<\/a> and a conditional draft pick in return.<\/p>\n<p>Upon acquiring Panarin, the Kings signed him to a two-year, $22 million contract extension.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.79980469;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38629399\" width=\"472\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/122388334.jpg\" alt=\"Artemi Panarin, in a black and white jersey, opens a gift box held by the Kings mascot, who is also wearing a black and white jersey with &quot;72&quot; on it.\" class=\"wp-image-38629399\"  \/>The Kings signed Panarin to a two-year $22 million contract extension. LA Kings on X<\/p>\n<p>Despite his breakup with the Blueshirts, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/05\/sports\/artemi-panarin-reveals-why-kings-were-perfect-fit-after-rangers-breakup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Panarin said that he was<\/a> \u201cpretty proud\u201d to don the Rangers jersey and made some good memories while on the team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix-and-a-half seasons is a pretty long time [to be in New York]. \u2026 A lot of good memories, a couple [Eastern] Conference finals. It was a great group of guys,\u201d Panarin told reporters on Feb. 6. \u201cI was pretty proud to wear [the Rangers\u2019] jersey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd thank you to the fans. I have to make a video, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kings\u2019 mascot gave up his jersey number for Artemi Panarin, and in return, the ex-Rangers star decided&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[19678,393,29267,4823,385,99],"class_list":["post-495722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-artemi-panarin","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-mascots","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}