Report: Another frontrunner falls out of Panarin Sweepstakes

We’re less than week away from the opening of the free agent period in the NHL and things are heating up. Pending UFA Artemi Panarin is currently making the rounds and meeting with prospective teams ahead of the official opening of free agency on July 1st, but we now know that at least two of the teams in pursuit of Panarin are out of the running.

Earlier this week, NHL insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that Panarin’s former team, the Chicago Blackhawks, are no longer in consideration.

Check it out:

Now, according to a report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Colorado Avalanche are also no longer in consideration. Which is surprising really because many fans and analysts felt that yesterday’s salary dump in the Carl Soderberg trade was a prelude to a Panarin signing. Not so, says Friedman who calls an Avalanche/Panarin marriage “unlikely.”

Check out these quotes from Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet:

Colorado is going to be fascinating. A boatload of cap room. From the moment Artemi Panarin made it clear he wouldn’t extend in Columbus, the Avalanche wished to pounce — but multiple sources indicate he did not meet them on Sunday, as many of us previously heard. Denver is an unlikely landing spot for the talented winger.

Ouch… tough break for both the Avs and Blackhawks. So… where will the Bread Man end up? Again from Friedman:

As for Panarin, it looks like the Panthers, Islanders and Rangers. There’s curiosity about Lou Lamoriello and the Islanders. The fact they haven’t extended Lee and Robin Lehner has everyone wondering what they’re up to.

And then there were three…