DeAngelo benefited from Panarin just like Strome. A lot of NYR don't want to admit it, but Panarin's game opened a lot of space for DeAngelo to pinch in from the point. A few months back I did the breakdown of DeAngelo's points and scoring chances with Panarin (and to some extent Zibanejad who had a career year). This was a smart contract by Gorton. A bridge that keeps him an RFA. If DeAngelo has finds similar success as last season, this is a huge win. If DeAngelo doesn't, well we're going to have just 1 year left on the deal.
My opening sentence was "DeAngelo benefited from Panarin just like Strome", but who cares if a player benefits from another player? Good players make other players better. In the end, if it's working, it doesn't matter.