Artemi Panarin will don No. 10 for the New York Rangers when he suits up for the first time at Madison Square Garden.
The New York Rangers‘ big free agent acquisition, Artemi Panarin, will wear No. 10 for the Blueshirts. Panarin picked his number a day after signing a seven-year, $11.6 million deal with the Blueshirts.
#NYR @9Artemi @TheGarden! pic.twitter.com/lEXa093r91
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 2, 2019
After agreeing to his contract with the Rangers on Monday, July 1, Panarin pondered between Nos. 10 and 27. He even took to social media on Monday night to ask fans which one he should take.
On Tuesday, Panarin visited the Rangers locker room at Madison Square Garden for the first time as a Blueshirt. When walking in, the Rangers greeted Panarin with two jerseys with his name on it. One was white with number 27 and one was blue with number 10.
When Panarin saw the jerseys, he was told he did not have to pick a number right away. However, the Bread Man did not hesitate.
#️⃣? for @9Artemi! #NYR pic.twitter.com/gSwgzscLWY
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 2, 2019
After picking his number, Panarin picked up the Rangers sweater to put it on for the first time.
First time putting on the Blueshirt for @9Artemi! #NYR #️⃣? pic.twitter.com/qekZkMfdYb
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 2, 2019
Earlier in his career, Panarin wore No. 72 with the Chicago Blackhawks and No. 9 with the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, 72 is already taken by young forward, Filip Chytil, and the Rangers have twice retired No. 9 for Adam Graves and Andy Bathgate.
Panarin is the first Ranger to wear the number since J.T. Miller, who wore it for five years before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018. Other notables to wear 10 include Marian Gaborik, Esa Tikkanen, and Ron Duguay, among others.
Given how excited Ranger fans are for Panarin, expect to see a bunch of his jerseys in the crowd in October.
