Minnesota Wild: Could the Wild Afford Artemi Panarin?

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin is a pending free agent next summer, and has not had any substantial contract talks recently. Could the Minnesota Wild throw their name in the hat as a potential destination?

With the ball finally dropping on the Max Pacioretty saga in Montreal and Erik Karlsson in Ottawa, the available player focus around the NHL will now shift to the next big name strugglinghttps://www.nhl.com/news/san-jose-acquires-erik-karlsson-from-ottawa/ in contract drama. That would be Artemi Panarin in Columbus. But what would it cost the Minnesota Wild to acquire a superstar like Panarin?

Minnesota has shown no interest in the Russian superstar, nor do I expect them to. The New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars have all been the top teams linked with interest in Panarin.

Panarin is currently on a cap hit of $6 Million for this coming season, and will be looking to cash in big on an 82 point year last season with the Blue Jackets, likely in the range of $10 Million or more. In order to make a deal of this magnitude, the Wild would have to be dumping some salary back onto Columbus as they’d need cash available to re-sign Panarin long term.

I think the first piece of a deal like like this, is that Columbus will want someone NHL-ready to step in on the top line and immediately replace Panarin in the lineup. The most likely option for that portion of the trade is forward Nino Niederreiter. Nino is also currently signed at $5.25 Mill per year, which would be off the books to re-sign Panarin with.

It’s not everyday that a consistent 30-goal scorer can be acquired in the NHL, but when it does happen a team has to pay high to acquire a player of that skill level.

Second, the Wild need to clear a large contract off the books to have room to sign Panarin to an extension. The obvious choice here is the new $6 Million dollar contract that Mathew Dumba recently signed. This would entirely offset the contract of Panarin, and give Nino’s contract in negotiating room to offer a long-term deal to keep the Russian in Minnesota

Dumba is a stud defenseman, offering up a 50 point season and on the rise as a top minutes D for the foreseeable future. His new contract is supposed to be a way of retaining him for 5 years, but his trade value is extremely high and would probably be highly demanded by Columbus’s shot callers.

Lastly, Columbus wants a high-end prospect for the future. Considering we are cleaning the cupboards by giving them our top line forward and top pairing D, I’m digging a little deeper for a prospect to share with them.

Forward prospect, and former 7th round pick, Dmitri Sokolov has been impressive in the Traverse City tournament and increased his value. With Columbus in Traverse City at the same tournament, I think the Minnesota Wild should strike while the iron is hot, and the play of Sokolov is fresh in the Jackets scouts’ minds.

If Columbus is not sold on a 7th rounder being legitimate value, the other option could be Ivan Lodnia who was a 3rd round pick and has also had a good Prospect Tournament for the Minnesota Wild.

Columbus would also likely be requesting a top pick in the coming draft, I suggest pitching the 2020 first round pick instead. Citing that we are attempting to make a deep push this year and 2020 may be more beneficial for the Jackets. Though, in actuality, the Wild should be able to remain competitive through that year as well.

On paper, many of you may be looking at this trade as an outrageous price to pay. I posit that if the Minnesota Wild get permission to speak to Panarin’s camp, and can sign a proven goal scorer and playmaker like that to a long-term deal, that this price is the expectation of what would have to go the other way to make a deal happen.

GM Paul Fenton may not be willing to part with this much in return for a single player, even if that player has groundbreaking ability. I can’t fault him for having no interest. But it is an interesting thought to consider what this team could look like with Panarin playing alongside Eric Staal and Jason Zucker.