Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane only spent two seasons playing with Artemi Panarin, now a New York Ranger, but he looks back fondly.
When asked which player Kane would most want by his side when going in on a two-on-one, he didn't hesitate.
"I know I played with him (Panarin) a couple of years, but the way he sees the game and the way he plays it was very similar to the way that I saw the game," Kane said on a video conference call Monday. "Just really, really fun hockey ... just kind of playing off each other, hanging out on our sides, and almost mirroring each other, what the other person was going to do. That was probably the funnest hockey that I've ever played was playing with him."
In 2015-16, their first season together, Panarin took home the Calder Trophy while Kane grabbed the Hart and Art Ross Trophies. Across both seasons together, Kane racked up 80 goals and 195 points while Panarin posted 61 goals and 151 points.
Panarin said in February that he expected to play his whole career in Chicago and revealed that his trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2017 still confuses him. The 28-year-old inked a seven-year, $81.5-million contract with the Rangers last summer.
The two dynamic wingers have continued to play at elite levels separately. In the three seasons since Panarin's trade, Kane has mustered up 104 goals and 270 points in 230 games, while Panarin has potted 87 goals and 264 points in 229 games.
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