For Artemi Panarin, the 2022-23 season ended the same way as the ’21-22 season did: Facing questions about his ability to perform in the playoffs.

While the Rangers had drastically different finishes to both campaigns, last year in the conference final and this year in Round 1, Panarin was not the same player in each, either.

The Russian wing’s carelessness with the puck during last season’s playoff run was a hindrance more often than it was an effective offensive risk. When he barely had the puck at all during this season’s first-round loss to the Devils, however, Panarin couldn’t make an impact, period.

His regression from last year’s playoffs to this year was not lost on Panarin.