Panarin had one of the roughest upbringings of any professional athlete.
He was abandoned by his parents at 3 months old and was raised by his grandparents, he grew up so poor that his hockey equipment was stuff his grandpa found in a dumpster outside of a hockey rink; his skates were so big that he had to wear his shoes inside of the skates, his gloves were made by his grandma from the leather of a boot. He had to take a train alone to play hockey because it wasn’t accessible in the mining town he lived in and it was so dangerous his grandma would sew his money into his clothing so when he was routinely shook down by thugs they wouldn’t steal it. He went to try out for this elite team and his grandpa told him if he didn’t make it he would have to quit playing and go become a miner. He ended up making it. Then he went undrafted partially due to how undersized he is, worked his way up playing in Russia where he’s a political dissident, and now today is the second highest paid player in the NHL.