Mark Messier Erupts in Defense of Artemi Panarin, Calls Criticism a “Disgrace to the NHL” as Rangers Star Cements His Legacy

Madison Square Garden has seen icons come and go, but every once in a while, a player arrives who doesn’t just wear the jersey — he becomes the heartbeat of the franchise. Right now, that player is Artemi Panarin.

And if there was any doubt left about his place in New York Rangers history, Mark Messier just obliterated it.

Only minutes after a fresh wave of criticism and noise began swirling around Panarin, the Rangers legend and Hall of Famer broke his silence with a statement so sharp it felt like a slap across the face of the hockey world.

Messier didn’t hedge, didn’t play it safe, and definitely didn’t sugarcoat anything. What’s happening to Panarin, he said, is “an absolute scandal and a disgrace to the NHL.”

Coming from anyone else, it would be headline-worthy. Coming from Mark Messier — the man whose name is synonymous with leadership, championships, and pressure moments at MSG — it lands like an earthquake.

Messier’s defense wasn’t emotional fluff or nostalgia talking. It was a blunt assessment from someone who understands elite hockey better than almost anyone alive. According to Messier, Panarin isn’t just a star. He’s the engine. The creator.

The guy who shows up every single shift, no matter the pressure, no matter the spotlight, no matter how heavy expectations get in New York — a city that eats athletes alive if they blink.

“They’re attacking a superstar,” Messier said, and that word choice matters. Not a good player. Not a fan favorite. A superstar. A player who, night after night, manufactures moments out of chaos and turns broken plays into highlight reels.

In a league where systems and structure often suffocate creativity, Panarin thrives by doing the unthinkable — and making it look easy.

The criticism aimed at Panarin recently has ranged from unfair to flat-out absurd. In a market as loud and ruthless as New York, even elite production sometimes isn’t enough.

If you don’t score at the perfect moment, if you don’t single-handedly drag a team through every playoff series, the knives come out. That’s the tax for wearing a Rangers sweater. But Messier made it clear: holding Panarin to impossible standards while ignoring what he actually delivers is hockey malpractice.

Panarin doesn’t coast. He doesn’t disappear. He doesn’t take nights off. Messier emphasized that Panarin “works every shift” and “carries the team on his shoulders.” That’s not a casual compliment — that’s the highest praise one leader can give another.

It’s the kind of statement that shuts down lazy narratives and forces people to actually watch the games instead of reacting to box scores or hot takes.

What makes Messier’s words even heavier is the comparison he draws, whether intentionally or not, to the legends who came before Panarin. The Rangers are not short on history. This is a franchise built on icons, banners, and ghosts that still hover above the ice at MSG.

To say Panarin is “the purest, most valuable talent the New York Rangers have had in decades” is not something you throw around lightly. That’s a seismic claim — and Messier stands by it.

“Purest” is the key word. Panarin’s game isn’t built on brute force or opportunism. It’s built on vision, timing, imagination, and nerve. He sees lanes before they exist. He attempts passes most players wouldn’t dare try in beer league, let alone under NHL pressure.

And in New York, where every mistake is magnified, he still chooses creativity over fear. That takes a different level of confidence.

Messier also pointed out something critics love to ignore: pressure. Playing in New York isn’t like playing anywhere else. The media microscope is relentless. The fan base is emotional, demanding, and impatient. Every shift is judged, dissected, and debated. Panarin doesn’t just survive that environment — he thrives in it.

He delivers under the brightest lights, when the stakes are highest, when the noise is deafening.

That’s why Messier believes Panarin is on a trajectory toward true immortality at Madison Square Garden. Not just a great Ranger. Not just a star of this era. A legend. The kind of name future generations will bring up when arguing about the greatest players to ever wear blue.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth for Panarin’s critics: people who “really understand hockey,” as Messier put it, already know this. They see the subtleties. They understand how much of the Rangers’ offense flows through Panarin’s stick. They know how many goals don’t happen without his vision two steps earlier.

Hockey isn’t just about who taps the puck in — it’s about who makes the moment possible in the first place.

Messier’s statement wasn’t just a defense. It was a line in the sand. A reminder that greatness doesn’t always scream; sometimes it glides, threads a pass through traffic, and changes the game quietly until you realize nothing works without it.

The message is clear: Artemi Panarin isn’t the problem. He’s the standard.

And if the New York Rangers do raise another banner in the years ahead, don’t be surprised if future speeches echo the same sentiment Mark Messier delivered so fiercely — that this era belonged to Panarin, whether people appreciated it in real time or not.