On the Columbus Blue Jackets, Artemi Panarin, and Free Agency …
Darren Dreger: Teams that could make sense to trade for Blue Jackets Artemi Panarin include San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils.
Brian Hedger of BlueJackets.com: It’s sounding like it’s going to be a quiet NHL free agency period for the Blue Jackets.
“We’ve been pretty quiet,” Kekalainen told BlueJackets.com on Saturday. “We’ve always told everybody or said to everybody we’re a draft-and-develop team. We don’t believe in going crazy on July 1 and putting too much term on the table.”
George Richards of the Dispatch: GM Jarmo Kekalainen doesn’t want to bring in someone who may not be a good fit.
“We want to grow this team, give opportunity to our guys who we believe are going to become good NHL players,” Kekalainen said Saturday afternoon.
“We don’t want to get a guy who isn’t a good fit. If we think there’s a fit, sure, we will add something which can make our team better. But we’re not desperately gouging the market to add a player or two.”
If they look to add pieces, they could use a forward or two and maybe a defenseman.
Blue Jackets pending UFAs who are likely on the move include Jack Johnson, Matt Calvert, Thomas Vanek and Mark Letestu.
UFA defenseman Ian Cole has an offer on the table from the Blue Jackets but is seeing what else is out there.
“We want to keep Ian Cole and we have made that known. We will see what happens. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do. If a guy wants to go somewhere else, he does. But we have made it clear we would like to keep him.”