Who could be interested in Artemi Panarin and what type money could he be looking for?
Jimmy Murphy: Source said yesterday that the Boston Bruins have called the Columbus Blue Jackets again about forward Artemi Panarin. The starting point would be Jake DeBrusk, a first-round pick and a top prospect.
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Darren Dreger was on TSN 1050 talking about the future of Columbus Blue Jackets Artemi Panarin.
Dreger says the Boston Bruins would be interested. It may not make sense for the Florida Panthers to go in heavy now, but maybe later as a free agent.
The Panthers may have an interest in both Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky – unlikely at the deadline but maybe in the offseason.
Dreger says the asking price would go up if Panarin would consider signing an extension, but not sure that he’s interested in that yet.
Panarin could be looking for a John Tavares type deal – seven years and $77 million. Geography is going to be important for Panarin.
“So if you’re in the East, you’re looking at the Eastern seaboard. You’re looking at Florida. You’re looking at Boston. You’re looking at the Islanders potentially. The Rangers potentially – everybody wants to play in Manhattan, but where the Rangers are might impact. Philly, to some degree.
“And in the West it gets a little bit more complicated. L.A. might have been a slam-dunk. I don’t know that they are now because of what the L.A. Kings are going through.”
Dan Rosen of NHL.com: (mailbag) Five possible landing spots for Panarin if he goes to free agency.
1. New York Rangers
2. Florida Panthers
3. Chicago Blackhawks
4. Boston Bruins
5. New York Islanders
Nicholas Cotsonika of NHL.com: The Columbus Blue Jackets shouldn’t just trade Artemi Panarin and/or Sergei Bobrovsky for just any return.
On if Panarin’s statement has changed anything, GM Jarmo Kekalainen said.
“Nothing. We’ve said all along we’re going to make hard decisions if we have to. The focus is on making this team better and as competitive as possible for this spring but also for the future, obviously.”
The Blue Jackets could use Panarin and Bobrovsky as their “own rentals.” They did this last year with Matt Calvert and Jack Johnson when the return wasn’t enough.
It would be hard for the Blue Jackets to trade Panarin and get a return that would help them immediately.
“Generally, you can say that the teams that are in the market right now to strengthen their team with something that might be a rental are not usually giving up roster players,” Kekalainen said. “That doesn’t necessarily apply to Panarin, but in general, that’s the rule there. They’re giving up futures to get players to add to their team rather than giving a roster player and getting another one back.”