The New Jersey Devils are a team loaded with talent and have made some moves so far this summer? Would Artemi Panarin be interested?
The New Jersey Devils love the way their offseason has gone so far. Since the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins finished off an epic Stanley Cup Final, the Devils have stolen the show.
They probably had the best draft weekend of any team in the league, leading off with Jack Hughes going first overall. Then, before rounds 2-7 kicked off the next day, they traded for P.K. Subban. It was a weekend that added two great talents that will be there on opening night, and 10 other draft picks that will try and develop into NHL players over the next few years.
Now, superstar free agent Artemi Panarin is making his rounds talking to teams with the intent of signing with one of them for big time money. The Florida Panthers have been the talk of the league as the favorite to land him and his Columbus Blue Jackets teammate Sergei Bobrovsky, but the New York Rangers and New York Islanders have been mentioned to be in the mix. Then on Thursday night, rumors that the New Jersey Devils have met with him while he’s in town.
Panarin is a superstar that has spent his four NHL seasons split between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets. He hit the ground running when he came over to the NHL in 2015-16 and ran all the way to the Calder Trophy. Then he was traded to Columbus and people questioned if he could keep it going without Patrick Kane on his line. Then, something amazing happened, he got even better! In 79 games with Columbus last season, he had 28 goals and 59 assists for 87 points. This is a guy with All-World offensive skills.
While this might be completely outlandish and something you don’t think is going to happen, what would be the right Panarin deal for the Devils? The money wouldn’t be a problem, at least for the next 3-4 years. They have to re-sign stars like Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier here soon, and guys like Will Butcher and Jesper Bratt will also be looking for decent sized raises soon as well. But the window of Jack Hughes’ entry-level deal is probably right if they wanted to add Panarin.
If Panarin would settle for a $10 million annually deal for four years, that would be an awesome deal for the Devils. They would have interchangeable top-line left wings between Panarin and Hall, Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier would both have an elite left winger to play with, and they wouldn’t be locked in on Panarin for an amount of time that straps their cap.
If he wanted much more than that in terms of money and term, let him go. This team is on the rise regardless and Panarin would only be a smart move with the right conditions. Would he look awesome in red and black instead of red, white, and blue? Absolutely! But it has to be at the right cost. Regardless, have faith that whatever Ray Shero decides to do is in the best interest of the Devils and it will all work out in the end.