Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky both balked at long-term extensions that offseason, with Panarin declining to negotiate at all, and both of them left July 1, 2019, along with rental forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel.
The Blue Jackets didn’t get a thing in return, other than a memorable sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the playoffs, so the question must now be asked: Can they afford to go down that route again?
“Well, we’re not doing that,” Kekalainen said Friday. “It all depends on where our team is at right now, but I’m not sure that I envision a similar situation for our team. It was very unique. It wasn’t just one player (in 2019). There were several players that were at the end of their contract.”
Wouldn’t it be easier if you told Seth and his agent (Pat Brisson) that you need to know an answer about a long-term deal before next season?
JK: “Those artificial deadlines … they never work.”
Why not?
JK: “Well, because it’s artificial. After I say, ‘I’ve got to know one way or the other,’ he could come back to me two days later and say, ‘You know what, I’ve changed my mind. I want to stay.’”
Unless you’ve already traded him …
JK (laughs): “That’s what I mean about ‘artificial deadline.’ It never works. If you make an ultimatum, then you have to follow through and say, ‘OK, unless you want to give me an answer by this time, then you’re going to be traded.’ But he’s the caliber of player and a core piece, both him and Zach — well, Zach’s a different situation because he’s got another year left (of restricted free agency) — but those are the core pieces of our team, where we’re going to do everything that we can to keep them.”
When you look back at the Panarin situation, were the offers you got for him better during the offseason prior to his final year than what you could’ve gotten at the trade deadline?
JK: “Not really. Everybody wanted to know if he was going to sign and he had his mind set on going to New York. The rental market (at the deadline) was all about futures and that’s why we kept him.”
Could that be different with Jones?
JK: “Yeah, I would think so. I don’t think Seth has his mind set on any one team, unless it’s the Blue Jackets, obviously.”
So, the Panarin situation was basically a no-win situation?
JK: “Yeah, so, teams that were interested in him knew there was a really good chance that he was going to be a rental and wanted to negotiate with him to see if he would sign with them, and then the price would’ve been different. Well, I didn’t want to get to that point, where he was negotiating with half the league and then still have to play for us if it didn’t work out.”
That’s not the case with Jones?
JK: “No. I think he likes it here. He’s just at the crossroads with his career. He wants to know that our team’s going in the right direction and that he can be part of us winning.”
Without revealing specifics, do you have a ballpark idea of what Seth will ask for?
JK: “Well, we have a pretty good idea of what the comparables are around the league. That’s what we do for a living. But before we get to the table with them, I really don’t know which direction they want to go.”
