Blue Jackets GM Kekalainen won’t commit that Panarin and Bobrovsky will be with the team when the season starts
Tom Gulitti of NHL.com: Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky both remain without a contract extension and GM Jarmo Kekalainen wouldn’t commit that both players will be with the Columbus Blue Jackets when their season starts on October 4th.
“I can’t,” Kekalainen said. “In this business, there’s always talks between the general managers whether you’ve got pending free agents or not. We talk regularly. Sometimes there’s trades. So I’m not speculating on them. I’m just saying we talk all the time, so I wouldn’t say about any player whether they’re a pending free agent or not that they’ll be on our team in October because anything can happen between now and Oct. 3.”
Kekalainen added that if they are not able to sign either player to a contract extension, they are going to have to make some big decisions.
It’s likely that both players will head to training camp that starts on September 14th without an extension.
“We want to keep them and we haven’t been able to be successful yet in extending their contracts, but we’re still optimistic we can get things done and we feel they can be a huge part of our team in the future,” Kekalainen said. “We’re going to have a good team into the future and hopefully they want to be part of it. That’s our mindset right now, to keep working at it.”
The Blue Jackets are working on a contract extension for head coach Jarmo Kekalainen.
Eric Staal and the Wild expected to talk contract extension during the season
Sean Leahy of NBC Sports: Eric Staal is entering the final year of his contract with the Minnesota Wild. There have been some talks, and more are expected once the season gets going.
“We had some kind of conversation as far as we’ll kind of approach it here once we get rolling in the season and go from there,” Staal said. “I’d like to . I like it. Minnesota’s been a great fit for me and I enjoy playing there, but that isn’t a secret. But those are things that we’ll discuss and figure out as we move forward in the next couple of months.”
Craig Custance of The Athletic: Eric Staal on free agency and the route the John Tavares took this past offseason.
“It’s just easier to get sold on where you are, you’re comfortable,” said Wild center Eric Staal, a free agent after this season. “You’re already invested. Especially if you’re a top player, an elite player. You’re invested in the organization. John was invested in the Islanders for a lot of years. He believed in what they were doing. He’s totally invested. To play out the year and not get traded and leave — that doesn’t happen. Especially with the way hockey guys are.”
