It's the playoffs.
Runs are lengthening. Upsets are happening. Cinderellas are emerging.
And in the cities whose teams have either been eliminated or didn't qualify for the NHL's postseason hijinks, rumors are flying.
Which means the B/R hockey staff's BS senses are tingling.
Toward that end, we took a look at a few of the hottest suggestions making the rounds these days and applied our BS Meter litmus test to gauge their voracity. Take a look at what we came up with and feel free to drop a take of your own (hot or otherwise) in the comments.
Artemi Panarin Leaving the Big Apple
This wasn't the way it was supposed to play out in New York.
The Rangers were coming off a playoff final four appearance last spring and had stocked the competitive cupboard for a run at least that deep in 2023.
And when they went to Newark and handled the host New Jersey Devils in the first two games of their first-round series, it would have been hard to find a nonbeliever.
But then the Devils won four of the next five to kick New York to the curb after just seven games, leaving general manager Chris Drury with some decisions to make about a roster bursting at the seams with salary.
Exhibit A: Artemi Panarin.
The 31-year-old winger has three years remaining on a deal paying better than $11.6 million per season, but his recent playoff output—two assists in seven games—after a 92-point regular season has some implying that a big deal could be imminent.
It certainly would clear cap room for a team about to deal with five unrestricted free agents and a handful of others due raises alongside their restricted statuses so it can't be dismissed entirely. But dealing away a guy who's been your leading scorer across the last four years seems more a knee-jerk solution than a prudent one.
BS Meter: BS, probably.
Evgeny Kuznetsov Wants out of Washington
It's a tale as old as time.
A rumor or a story surfaces. The player mentioned in the rumor denies it.
And within days or weeks, the scenario suggested occurs.
Will that be the case as it relates to Washington forward Evgeny Kuznetsov? We'll see.
But there does seem to be plenty of smoke to signal a fire.
Suggestions have been around for a few seasons that the 2010 first-round draft pick, now 30, was unhappy with the Capitals and had requested a trade. His role on the team has changed and his production has gradually ebbed from a career-high 83 points in 2017-18 to just 55 points in 81 games this season, alongside an ugly -26 rating.
A Russian television station reported in March that Kuznetsov had renewed his request to leave D.C. (h/t Russian Machine Never Breaks), alongside a report from The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir in a mailbag piece that the organization is disappointed with the player's 2022-23 performance and that "trust is broken" between the parties.
Add in the comment by Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast that divorce is a likely outcome and Kuznetsov's conditional dismissal of the idea to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti seems a hollow response.
So the real question isn't if Kuznetsov and his $7.8 million price tag will be on the move sometime soon, it's when?
BS Meter: Not BS