The closer things get to the start of the 2018-19 season, the more likely it appears that Columbus Blue Jackets left winger Artemi Panarin will not work out any sort of contract extension with his current team.
With his deal expiring at the end of the season, unrestricted free agency awaits in the summer of 2019 and one of the more talented wingers in hockey is already dropping hints of where he wants to spend his future.
According to the Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, multiple sources around the NHL believe that the 26-year-old will want to sign with the New York Rangers in July 2019.
His acquisition would provide a serious boost to the Rangers’ rebuilding plan, one that was put into motion in February at the league’s trade deadline.
The Blueshirts will be looking to build its team through a core of youth players that is already taking shape. Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil and Vitali Kravtsov are all 19 years old or younger and will soon join the likes of 23-year-old’s Brady Skjei, Pavel Buchnevich and Mika Zibanejad.
Panarin certainly fits the bill of a younger player at 26 and will provide the Rangers with their most dangerous playmaker. Over his first three years in the NHL, the Russian has averaged just under 30 goals per season, two with the Chicago Blackhawks before financial restrictions forced them to trade him to the Blue Jackets.
In his first year in Columbus, Panarin posted 27 goals with a career-high 55 assists.
Who could beat the Rangers to Artemi Panarin?
There will likely be plenty of interest in Panarin, most notably already from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
On Aug. 23, Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov posted a photo on Twitter of he, Panarin and goaltender Andrei Vasilveskiy on the beaches of Tampa in what looks like an early attempt to recruit the Blue Jacket:
Vasy and I showing @9Artemi how good it is to play in Tampa pic.twitter.com/I1sWJgWINz
— Nikita Kucherov (@86Kucherov) August 23, 2018
The Lightning is expected to be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference this year alongside the Toronto Maple Leafs. With one of the most prolific offenses in the league last year, adding Panarin to an offense that features Kucherov and Steven Stamkos would make the Lightning lethal.
With Panarin’s future in Columbus seemingly decided though, the Blue Jackets could look to trade the winger sometime this winter before the NHL’s deadline in February. Should Panarin join a contender that he experiences success with, he could feel compelled to re-sign with them.
For now, though, there suddenly is a bright, hypothetical light at the end of the Rangers’ rebuilding tunnel.
