Jarmo Kekalainen has no regrets about his big trade-deadline gamble. But now the BlueJackets GM has some tough decisions to make (reporterchris)
gave a thumbs up to the crowd after what amounted to the finest year of his own NHL career, and it only seemed natural to wonder if everything that’s happened here left open even the remote possibility they may still have a future together.It is the unlikeliest of outcomes, of course.have had ample opportunity to talk contract with Columbus dating back to last summer, and demurred.
"I think it’s important moving forward that we have guys who are proud to be Blue Jackets, proud to be living in Columbus and loving it here," Kekalainen told reporters. "It’s really important that they bleed blue or whatever you want to call it…The organization is going to have a tough time avoiding a step back after seasons of 98, 97 and 108 points.
Kekalainen may attempt to recoup some draft capital by dealing the rights to Bobrovsky and Panarin once they confirm their intentions of moving on. He also has an important decision to make on whether to try and re-sign Duchene, which would require Columbus to send its 2020 first-round pick to Ottawa after already giving up a 2019 first and two prospects to pry him from the Sens originally.
Panarin established new franchise bests for points and assists and remained productive this spring with 11 points in 10 playoff games. Bobrovsky followed an up-and-down regular season by delivering the best post-season performance of his career with a .925 save percentage, although he was outduelled by a superlative Tuukka Rask in Round 2.
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