Breaking: McKenzie links Panarin to 5 potential destinations.

Things are getting very interesting around Columbus Blue Jackets star forward Artemi Panarin and they may keep trending in that direction for the next several months.

It now seems like a forgone conclusion that Panarin will be traded ahead of the 2019 National Hockey League Trade Deadline given that he has given every indication that he has no intention of signing a new deal with the Blue Jackets organization. On top of his obvious desire to get out of Columbus the Blue Jackets themselves have struggled down the stretch and if they continue to trend in their current direction there is a real chance that they could miss the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs altogether. Keeping that in mind it's easy to see why the Blue Jackets would feel that they must trade Panarin for something before they lose him for nothing. 

No one really knows where Panarin will be playing after the deadline other than to say that it won't be with Columbus, but almost as intriguing as where he will be traded is where he ends up after the free agency period this summer. It once seemed like a forgone conclusion that Panarin would join the ranks of the New York Rangers organization, but in a recent radio interview TSN National Hockey League insider Bob McKenzie revealed the names of 5 potential teams that could realistically land Panarin. Pondering whether or not Panarin knows where he wants to go already, McKenzie gave a surprising response. 

“Actually, you know what - I don’t think he does,” said McKenzie as per Nichols on Hockey. “I think he does and he doesn’t. But I think the places he wants to go are multiple. He’s going to go through, I think, a rather exhaustive process once the season is over and he gets into that shopping period before free agency.”

So which teams could land him? Well according to McKenzie thew aforementioned New York Rangers remain in play but so do the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings.

“My understanding is that any of the Florida teams, he’s interested in. Any of the big teams on the Eastern seaboard - the New York Rangers, like that. The Chicago Blackhawks, there’s been indications that he would go back and try to find a way to work him back into the fold. I don’t think smaller market Canadian teams would be in his wheelhouse at all. Toronto is not going to be positioned to do anything. But I think he liked the idea of Original Six a little bit. I wouldn’t rule Detroit out of the equation, especially with the history Detroit has had with Russian players in the past. 

“So I think it’s a pretty wide-open landscape, but only to a point. He’s going to want to have a chance to contend with good young players that give him a chance. So I think it’s a relatively wide-open field, but there’s probably 10-12 places already where the doors are closed. Maybe even half the league will be out of it before they start.”

Stay tuned folks because this is one story that is getting very interesting, and shows no signs of turning back.