The Canucks closing in on getting Virtanen re-signed
Irfaan Gaffar: Have been hearing that contract talks between forward Jake Virtanen’s reps and the Vancouver Canucks are going well. A new deal is expected to be done at some point this week, possibly as early as today.
Will be hard for the Blue Jackets to get full trade value for Panarin
Dan Rosen of NHL.com: (mailbag) Believe have that Columbus Blue Jackets should trade Artemi Panarin, but not that, that is what they are going to do.
Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen should ask Panarin for a list of teams that he’d consider signing a long-term deal with, and then look for the best possible deal. This obviously isn’t a position of strength for the Blue Jackets, and everyone knows it. Possible but unlikely that they get full trade value for Panarin.
Interested teams could include the New York Rangers who have prospects and some NHL ready players, the Boston Bruins have young forwards like Jake DeBrusk and Ryan Donato, the Florida Panthers have prospects like Henrik Borgstrom and Owen Tippett, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Pittsburgh Penguins who would have to include Phil Kessel.
Zetterberg’s future still uncertain
Mike Battaglino of NHL.com: Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill isn’t sure if forward Henrik Zetterberg will be playing next season.
“At this point, I haven’t heard anything from Henrik to say that he is or is not playing,” Blashill told the Detroit Free Press on Sunday. “The biggest thing with Henrik is, how healthy is Henrik? I know he spent the whole second half of last season not practicing because of his back. He ground it out because he is the ultimate warrior, one of the best I have ever been around, and was able to still be a real good player. But that continues to take a wear and tear on your body. So I think he is in the process of deliberating to see where is his back at. And only Henrik can answer that and it will be answered I am sure come (training) camp time.”
The 37-year old has be dealing with back issues for the past three seasons. GM Ken Holland said on July 1st that he is expecting Zetterberg to play.