NHL
On 29 April 2015, Panarin signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. He scored his first career NHL goal on 7 October 2015 against Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, the first goal scored by the newly defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks in their first game of the 2015–16 season. On 17 February 2016, in another game against the Rangers, Panarin scored his first career NHL hat-trick. He appeared in 80 games for the Blackhawks during the 2015–16 season and recorded 30 goals and 47 assists for 77 points, which led all NHL rookies and ranked within the top-ten amongst all NHL skaters. Panarin found instant chemistry with Patrick Kane and fellow Russian Artem Anisimov on the Blackhawks' second line. Kane, who was the NHL's MVP and leading scorer in 2015–16, cited Panarin as a major contributor to his successful season. Panarin made his Stanley Cup playoff debut on 13 April in Game 1 of the first round series against the St. Louis Blues and scored his first playoff goal on 15 April in Game 2 against Blues' goaltender Brian Elliott. During the seven game first round exit in the playoffs, he registered seven points in all seven games played. Panarin was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top rookie, at the 2016 NHL Awards on 22 June. Panarin was also awarded the 2015–16 Kharlamov Trophy, given to the best professional Russian hockey player by the Russian Hall of Fame. He also earned a $2.55 million bonus pursuant to his contract for finishing the season in the top-ten among forwards in scoring. Panarin expressed his gratitude to Kane for helping him reach his contract incentives by gifting him a luxury watch.
In the 2016–17 season, his sophomore season at the NHL level, Panarin built upon his rookie season, continuing his offensive role playing alongside Kane and Anisimov on the Blackhawks second line. On 9 November 2016 in a game against the St. Louis Blues, Panarin recorded his first career Gordie Howe hat-trick by scoring the OT winning goal on Blues goaltender Jake Allen, an assist on another goal earlier in the game by Marián Hossa and participated in his first career fight with Blues' forward Scottie Upshall earlier in the game as well. On 26 December, Panarin signed a new two-year, $12 million contract with Chicago effective for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. He completed his second North American season scoring a career-best 31 goals in collecting 43 assists and 74 points in all 82 games played and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team.
On 23 June 2017, Panarin was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets (along with Tyler Motte and a sixth-round pick in the 2017 NHL entry draft) in exchange for Brandon Saad, Anton Forsberg, and a fifth-round pick in the 2018 NHL entry draft. On 8 December, Panarin had a record-tying achievement of picking up five primary assists in one game on goals by Pierre-Luc Dubois, Scott Harrington, Lukáš Sedlák, Zack Werenski and Alexander Wennberg to help Columbus defeat the New Jersey Devils 5–3. On 20 March 2018, Panarin scored his second career hat-trick (and added an assist on a goal by Markus Nutivaara) to clinch a 5–3 Columbus win over the New York Rangers. On 3 April, Panarin surpassed the Blue Jackets' franchise points record after scoring 80 points in 80 games, finishing the season with 82 points (27 goals, 55 assists) in 81 games. Panarin would also record two goals and five assists for seven points in all six games in the 2018 playoffs during the Blue Jackets first round loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals.
The following season, Panarin would break his own record, setting a new Blue Jackets-franchise point-scoring record with 87 points (28 goals, 59 assists) in 79 games to help the Blue Jackets clinch the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs. In the first round of the 2019 playoffs, Panarin and the Blue Jackets would stunningly sweep the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in four games marking the first playoff series win in Blue Jackets history and for Panarin's career. After sweeping the Lightning in the opening round, Panarin and the Blue Jackets would fall to the Boston Bruins in six games in the second round and Panarin would finish the playoffs with five goals and six assists for 11 points in all 10 games played.
On 1 July 2019, Panarin signed a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the New York Rangers, worth an annual average of $11.642 million. Panarin scored his first goal as a Ranger on a power play during the 2019–20 season opener against the Winnipeg Jets on 3 October, and also notched an assist on Jacob Trouba's first goal with the team. By 5 October, Panarin had the third-most assists and was tied for second in the NHL in points on the road since starting the start of his NHL career. On 9 January 2020, Panarin became the first player in Rangers history to have 60 points in the first 43 career games as a Ranger, edging out Wayne Gretzky who had 59. On 13 January, Panarin made Rangers history three times during a game against the New York Islanders. He became the first Ranger to record six three-point games in a nine-game span (six goals, 16 assists). He also became the second Ranger to record nine plus points in four consecutive games, and the second Ranger in last 40 seasons with 67 points through the team's first 45 games. Panarin concluded the shortened 2019–20 regular season by recording a career-high 95 points from 32 goals and 63 assists. He finished tied with David Pastrňák of the Boston Bruins for third overall in scoring among all NHL skaters. He was also a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award, which both were eventually awarded to Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.
On 22 February 2021, Panarin announced he would take a personal leave of absence. He returned to practice with the Rangers on 10 March. Panarin was ruled out for the final three games of the season with a lower-body injury following an on-ice brawl with Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson on 3 May. He finished the pandemic-shortened 2020–21 season with 17 goals and 41 assists in 42 games.
On 7 December 2022, during a game against the Vegas Golden Knights, Panarin recorded his 600th career point. Among active players at that time, he became the fifth fastest player to do so in 536 games, behind Evgeni Malkin (490), Alexander Ovechkin (464), Sidney Crosby (430), and Connor McDavid (421).
Panarin opened the 2023–24 season with a franchise-record 15-game point streak, eclipsing the 14-game point streak to open a season set by Rod Gilbert during the 1972–73 season. On 12 December 2023, during a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Panarin recorded his 700th NHL career point. On 13 January 2024, he became the fastest player in Rangers history to record 400 points in the fewest games with 310, surpassing Mark Messier (322), Brian Leetch (380), Phil Esposito (405), and Andy Bathgate (423). On 30 December 2024, he became the fastest player in Rangers history to record 500 points (384 games played), and later on 12 January 2026, became the fastest player to record 600 points (476 games played, surpassing Mark Messier (531).
On 16 January 2026, the Rangers announced that it would be retooling in the midst of a disappointing 2025–26 season. As part of this process, Panarin, who was in the final year of his contract, and his agent were informed privately that the team would not be offering him a contact extension. A few weeks later, on 4 February, Panarin was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Liam Greentree, a conditional 2026 third-round pick, and a conditional 2028 fourth-round pick. The Rangers retained 50% of Panarin's contract in the trade. Panarin, who had a full no movement clause in his contract with New York, had only wanted to be traded to Los Angeles. On the same day, Panarin and the Kings agreed to a two-year, $22 million contract extension.
