Blue Jackets brace for 'hard decisions' on Panarin before Trade Deadline

COLUMBUS --The Columbus Blue Jackets remain committed to signing forward Artemi Panarin to a contract, but general manager Jarmo Kekalainen admitted they must weigh all options ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline on Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. ET.

"We've said all along we're going to make hard decisions if we have to," Kekalainen said Tuesday. "The focus is on making this team better and as competitive as possible for this spring but also for the future obviously."
Panarin's agent, Dan Milstein, tweeted Monday that Panarin, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, would not discuss his future with the Blue Jackets until after the season. The 27-year-old forward, in the final season of a two-year contract he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 28, 2016, said in September he would not have contract discussions during the season after the two sides failed to reach an agreement prior to training camp. He has been eligible to sign a contract extension with the Blue Jackets since July 1, 2018.
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The Blue Jackets hoped to reopen talks before the trade deadline, but the statement released Monday opens the possibility of them trading Panarin. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky can also become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
"I'm a little bit disappointed we're in this situation, but I think you're going to have to talk to [Panarin] about it," Kekalainen said. "He made his statement clear he's going to concentrate on hockey now. That's where it's at.
"We like Artemi and like to keep him. It's his right to go to free agency. If the future is to do so, we'll be knocking on his door July 1."
Kekalainen said he has already received calls from other teams about Panarin but is unsure what he can get back because of Panarin's potential UFA status.

"It's hard for me to start speculating all that, but 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 to try to strengthen their team instead of swapping 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."
Panarin leads the Blue Jackets with 53 points (19 goals, 34 assists) in 46 games. He was traded to Columbus by Chicago with forward Tyler Motte and a sixth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft for forward Brandon Saad, goalie Anton Forsberg and a fifth-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft on June 23, 2017.
"It depends on what the marketplace looks like," Kekalainen said. "I've said it before, we love Artemi, but we had 108 points before he arrived here in the season before. We're going to have a good team even if they choose to go to the free agent market. We have some really good players, really good core players. We have more coming that aren't even here yet and we're going to be OK."
The Blue Jackets (28-17-13) enter their game against the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, MSG-B, NHL.TV) third in the Metropolitan Division, four points behind the first-place New York Islanders. They have not won a Stanley Cup Playoff series since entering the NHL in the 2000-01 season.
Coach John Tortorella said Panarin and Bobrvoksy's pending free agency should not be a distraction.
"We met this morning about the situation, and we've been very honest in that locker room as situations come by," Tortorella said. "We've done it right from the get-go because we know it's going to be that type of year with stuff flying around us. So we had the honest conversation, we get about our business."
Still, Kekalainen said that things with each player could heat up as the deadline gets closer.
"There's always more activity," he said. "You've seen in the past where there's more activity at the deadline. There's pending UFA's. Some were kept, some were traded for rentals. That's the business here. Teams are in different positions and they have to make decisions, one where they're at and what their future looks like and what their plans are.
"We're going to go about our business here and try to win hockey games, make the playoffs and go as deep as possible this spring too. That's what we're going to focus on."