Zetterberg still undecided on this season
Gregg Krupa of The Detroit News: As of last week there was a report out of Sweden that Detroit Red Wings Henrik Zetterberg was still undecided about playing this season due to his back issues.
“He has not decided if he will continue or not,” Svensson said, according to a report Tuesday by Piotr Arvidsson.
“There have been some injury problems with his back. It is impossible to answer how it will be, for it one cannot know what it is now.
“He simply has not decided,” the agent said.
GM Ken Holland said earlier that they expect Zetterberg to be at training camp but are unsure of his status for the season.
The Blue Jackets can’t lose Panarin for nothing
Rob Mixer of Sporting News: The Columbus Blue Jackets are not a big-budget, big-market team. They build through the draft and aren’t big players in free agency.
Losing Artemi Panarin wouldn’t be easy, and they can’t lose him for nothing like the John Tavares outcome with the New York Islanders.
With Panarin’s September 13th deadline, the Blue Jackets best and really only move is to trade him before the season starts.
Teams that could be interested in Panarin as either a rental or as a long-term destination include:
Toronto Maple Leafs – Would be a rental and unlikely. The Leafs likely wouldn’t want to give up one of their young forwards.
San Jose Sharks – Could be a good fit and the Sharks have some good young forwards under contract. The Sharks could also offer a bunch of futures and hope to re-sign him after the season.
Florida Panthers – The Panthers have prospects that would intrigue the Blue Jackets. If the Panthers were looking at an extension, prospect Henrik Borgstrom has to be included in the deal.
Los Angeles Kings – The Kings don’t have a lot of salary cap room and they’d need to send money the other way. The Kings have wanted to upgrade their offense and they’ve already signed Ilya Kovalchuk this offseason. The assets need to give as well as the dollar amount may be too much for the Kings.