Stale in Columbus, Panarin would consider a return to Chicago

Speculation has begun that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin could return to the Chicago Blackhawks if no deal is done by September.

When the smoke had finally settled on the uproar of a Washington Capitals’ Cup win, and as the NHL offseason officially started its climb towards a new campaign back in June, the Columbus Blue Jackets were still searching for answers.

Somewhere in the dreck of an early postseason exit had to be a silver lining. Somewhere. Anywhere. Up 2-0 on those very same title winners, players could only watch like battered garden gnomes as the grip slowly came undone en route to a 4-2 series loss.

No, it can’t be there. Another first round come and gone, another loss at the hands of an eventually champion. Always a groomsman. This has to be old already.

It’s a classic nightmare: The Blue Jackets face down the bully, yet find themselves punching in slow motion. They’ve had a few months to think on the topic now. Their minds have moved to other matters. Maybe most importantly? The case of Artemi Panarin.

The star winger became the centerpiece for Columbus back in 2017, landing in on a trade that sent Brandon Saad packing his bags back to the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a good move for the Blue Jackets, at the time. One dealt by a team hoping with hopes that they had inherited a pair of rain boots, an add meant to wade through the gauntlet of an Eastern Conference won only through hard work and a chore-like attitude.

Opinion is that it helps to have a stud who can knot you 82 points. It just isn’t enough. So say the likes of the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Washington Capitals as well can eat through you in waves. The Blue Jackets felt the pain. As the seconds ticked away in Game 6, fans had to be thinking the same thing: What happens to Panarin? Sure, he has a year left. Yet too Columbus knows this. It knows all the same his feelings on the subject. We can make educated guesses at them as well.

As reports surface that Panarin wants out — according to The Athletic he’d welcome a return to the Windy City — fans have to wonder now if the Blue Jackets will keep him around much longer. Maybe they trade him away. Perhaps the East slowly pecks apart a team struggling to survive in a now loaded division. Assets at the deadline are better than nothing. Nothing is the return they face in 2019.

Fans of course would have you believe this is a team that is set. Or at least, you have to try to make the playoffs, regardless of what happens beyond. That means keeping him throughout his deal. We suppose a noble death on the sword is better than facing anonymity. Yet these are band-aid conjectures. In the minds of Ohioans it’s clear this isn’t a team ready to fully contend. We know, that isn’t what the heart will allow.

Panarin has set a deadline on a contract extension. He won’t negotiate beyond Sept. 13. Columbus has stated that nothing is moving forward, despite its best efforts. The two have stalled. To read between the lines, and maybe one doesn’t need to do much reading, the reveal would be that Panarin is simply done in a Blue Jackets uniform. One season was enough to come to this conclusion.

He told the club in June that he didn’t want to talk extension at that time anyway (subscription required). For the Blackhawks’ part, they could make it happen. We’ll leave it to accountants to figure out how they’ll swing a trade in their current hell known as the salary cap. Or, better yet, they simply wait out the Blue Jackets. Sure, they can trade him to a contender midway through this season.

But from implications by the Bread Man himself, it won’t matter. He’ll make his dough as a ‘Hawk either way. And so Columbus will lead itself back to searching for silver linings. If it can’t come to an agreement soon—and it appears it won’t—what then is the positive? The stars aligned enough to watch a perhaps special player skate through your home arena on a nightly basis. You could watch him up close for a year and a half. Two years if you’re lucky.

It isn’t enough. It could never be enough. Should the Blue Jackets toil again in obscurity in the Metropolitan Division—his eventual absence the reason—we know there will be no words of encouragement. That’s the daily bend of a sports fan.