Movember Artemi Panarin Review

This player review is for the 90 overall version of Movember Artemi Panarin

#Stats and Synergies

Stats

MOV Panarin's full list of in game stats can be found HERE (via HutDB)

Panarin's 5 basic card stats are the followoing: Skating (92) , Shooting (90) , Hands (91) , Checking (87) , and Defense (88)

Panarin's key stats are the following: Wrist Shot Accuracy (92) , Deking (92) , and Offensive Awareness (91)

In 68 games played Panarin got 36 goals and 21 assists for a total of 57 points.

Synergies

Panarin's synergies include: WW(1) , TT(1) , and T(1)

The synergies active on my team include: DD, WW, OJ, S, NP, IS, 1T, CG, B, TT, and T

---

#Review

Skating: 8/10

Panarin is a little guy with some pretty good speed. At 5'11 and 170lbs I found that when he was fresh on the ice, for example his first couple of shifts, he was flying out there. Most of the time, he could out skate opponents with ease which often led to breakaway chances for him, which he often scored on. This is due not only to his speed (91), but his acceleration (92) which made him hot off the rush. However, the big downside I saw in the category is his lack to maintain his speed throughout long shifts or back to back shifts. This is due to the fact that Panarin has poor endurance (86) which means he gets tired faster than I like. But, if you are good at switching up the lines and letting him rest, this really shouldn't be a problem for you as he will always be rested and have pretty good speed. Overall, Panarin's speed is pretty good and he can often out skate opponents, but his endurance is poor which can be costly.

Shot: 9/10

Easily my favourite part about Panarin's game the guy can snipe. So, when it comes to Panarin as a shooter he is just fantastic but we will be looking at his wrist shot and slap shot to better understand. We will start with he weaker shot, the slap shot. Admittedly I really didn't try the slap a lot with Panarin but when I did it just seemed average to me. Usually he would hit the net with his impressive slap shot accuracy (91) but it just wasn't as powerful as I'd like as his slap shot power (88) didn't impress me. However, when he was fed for the one timer I felt it drastically improved, his ability to get open on the ice helped with this and his one timer was awesome. Next, his wrist shot. Panarin's wrister is fantastic with his wrist shot accuracy (92) and his wrist shot power (89) being very underrated in my opinion. Panarin is a specialist at picking corners fro nearly anywhere in the offensive zone. Most of my goals from him were actually wristers up near the blue line! Overall, this is Panarin's strongest category.

Hands: 8/10

Panarin has a pretty nice set of mits, which actually attributed to a lot of his goals. Panarin's deking (92) is pretty good. Though not as fast as someone like Patrick Kane, it still got the job done. I often set Panarin up on breakaways and he scores 9/10 times. Beating the goalie is no trouble for the breadman. I often used the toe drag with him to get around the defense as it always worked flawlessly, esepcially when they leaned in for the hit. Overall, there's not much to say about Panarin's deking, it's pretty good and gets the job done well.

Physicality: 2/10

There really isn't much to say when it comes to Panarin's physicality. He is 5'11 and 170lbs. He is often nudged off the puck quite easily and is terrible at throwing big hits with his *body checking (78) and strength (84). The only time I ever got a big hit with him was going full speed directly at Gaudreau and even that wasn't too impressive. The only reason he gets a 2/10 is because I know there are smaller players out there that are even worse than he is. Overall, Panarin is not a physical guy, and he is easily bumped off the puck.

Team Play: 8/10

This is one area on Panarin's play where I was pleasantly surprised. Panarin's ability to move the puck and make plays was something I was impressed with with his offensive awareness (91) and passing (93) he was a front runner of a lot of great plays. We will start with his passing, I play Panarin on a line with Mike Richards and Base Kane (yes I know Kane and Panarin, I'm a hawks fan couldn't help it). Though Panarin was usually the goal scorer his ability as a passer was great, I especially enjoyed the cross crease saucer pass with him, it almost always connected with the other player. Another strong area in terms of team play for Panarin was his ability to find the open ice in the offensive zone. He always seemed to be in the right place for the one timer or pass, which led to a lot of goals and a lot of great plays. I'd also like to touch on his puck control (92). Skating in the offensive zone was easy for him especially on power plays and he was able to control the puck well unless someone got to close and hit him. Overall, I was impressed with Panarin's ability to pass and be offensively positioned.

Defense: 6.5/10

This is probably the most mediocre area of Panarin's game. With his stick checking (85) and shot blocking (79) he isn't the most defensively gifted player on the ice. Panarin is not on any of my PK lines, but when he is on the ice in my defensive zone he is skating at the player with the puck (though this does have to do with stratagies). His defensive awareness (87) was okay but nothing to write home about. The strongest part of Panarin's defensive game though is defineatly his ability to backcheck when the opponent is on the rush. His speed makes it easy for him to catch up to the play and interfere every now and again. Overall, Panarin is not a defensive stud, but he is not horrible. His backcheck is the most decent part of his defensive game.

Conclusion

Panarin's strengths shine brightest in the offensive zone. If you are looking for an offensive player who can pick corners with ease he might be your guy. It is also important to note that he is having a fantastic season in the NHL and we will most likely see some more upgrades for him down the road!