On the Chicago Blackhawks and Artemi Panarin …
Craig Custance of ESPN: The 25-year old Artemi Panarin is on pace for 30 goals and close to the 77 points he put up last season. Panarin will be a restricted free agent after the season.
A source is saying the owners will get an idea of what next year’s salary cap could look like at the Board of Governors meetings this week. It’s hard seeing the cap going up a whole lot for next year.
There isn’t a big rush to get Panarin signed to an extension as there are lots of moving parts for the Blackhawks. A big, long-term extension may mean that another piece from the Blackhawks has to be trade to create the cap room.
Johnny Gaudreau’s six-year extension with a $6.75 million could be a comparable. If they went eight-years, Vladimir Tarasenko’s $7.5 million cap hit could be a comparable. If doing a bridge deal, there is Nikita Kucherov’s three-year at $4.766 million per season.
Panarin won’t get full market value from the Blackhawks, but how much will he be willing to leave on the table to remain with the Blackhawks? Panarin would be a UFA in two years.
On the Pittsburgh Penguins and Derrick Pouliot …
Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Penguins defenseman Derrick Pouliot is close to being able to come off the LTIR. The 22-year old needs to play, but it won’t be easy to get him back into the lineup.
“He’s a very good young player, and it’s our responsibility to try and help him continue to grow and develop,” Sullivan said. “We’re in the process of trying to put a gameplan together that we think helps him do that.
“Part of that is obviously he has to play games. He has to get in some games here. We’ll work to do that.”
Ian Cole and Justin Schultz have been a good pairing. Kris Letang is obviously not coming out. Olli Maatta or Brian Dumoulin have been paired with Letang. Maatta kills penalties and Pouliot wouldn’t. Unlikely to sit Trevor Daley.
Other option would be a trade. Pouliot isn’t thinking that far ahead, but he does understand what he’s up against.
“I’m not too sure (of what the future holds),” Pouliot said. “We’ll have to see where things go down the road here. Trades happen. You never know what could unfold.”