Artemi Panarin is having a phenomenal season for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but with the pending contract negotiations coming up it’s more than likely going to drive up his price going forward. His value was already at an all-time high with the point per game season last year, however now he’s on pace to hit nearly 100 points with 52 points through 44 games this season.
Panarin’s value was already at a point where he’d likely get one of the richest contracts in Columbus Blue Jackets history and now it’s only higher. Going forward, assuming Sergei Bobrovsky is gone after this season, the Blue Jackets have plenty of cap space to make it work with Panarin but it would be preferred to have him on as cheap of a contract as possible.