TAMPA, FL — As we creep towards Trade Deadline Jr., a.k.a. the Olympic roster freeze at 3pm ET on Wednesday, many anticipated more activity leading up to the break.
After Rasmus Andersson and Kiefer Sherwood were dealt two weeks ago, a lot of folks across the NHL thought the trade market had opened up. Well, it didn’t. Then, after the New York Islanders acquired Carson Soucy and Ondrej Palat, everyone got excited again. Since then? Crickets.
This league works, primarily, on hard deadlines. Tomorrow’s freeze is a soft deadline, and unless some prices drop, teams looking to buy aren’t overly interested in paying players while they enjoy their vacations.
So, as we wait for the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets to start selling off more assets, all eyes are zeroed in on the Blueshirts and Artemi Panarin, a situation that seems to shift with each passing day.
Panarin sits No.1 on TFP’s Trade Watch List
As of this morning, there remains a few options available to the Rangers, who want to maximize a return. Panarin’s preference is to sign an extension with the team that trades for him, but I don’t believe that he and his camp are dead set on that prerequisite. It seems like Panarin – at least, for now – is willing to play ball to allow the Rangers to get the best package back for him. He wants to win. He isn’t thrilled he’s sitting out, and while he understands the scope of the situation, it is unclear how patient he is willing to be.
The Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks are among the teams willing to extend Panarin – they are still in the mix, but they all view the dollars differently, so that’s a factor here – but I have gotten the sense from two separate league sources that Panarin may consider alternative options in order to chase a Stanley Cup, which has them curious about the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers, none of which likely link up on an extension.
Barring a shift in talks, I am also led to believe the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks and Utah Mammoth are not currently contenders for Panarin’s services.