Toronto Maple Leafs: Cost to trade for Artemi Panarin not worth gamble

With Artemi Panarin asking for a resolution with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Toronto Maple Leafs could be a trade possibility for the talented winger.

Adding John Tavares has elevated the Toronto Maple Leafs status as contenders going into this season but the discussion still revolves around a need to upgrade their defence. So logically the conversation has turned towards potentially looking at acquiring Artemi Panarin.

How did this all come about? Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman made an appearance on the NHL Network and was asked about the latest offseason storylines. Those would include the trade rumours surrounding Erik Karlsson and Max Pacioretty along with Panarin as his name has entered the conversation recently.

What has gotten people riled up is that Friedman suggested that if Panarin is available on the trade market, he could see Toronto and San Jose being interested.

In fairness to Friedman, that’s just him taking a guess and not saying with certainty that the Leafs have called about Panarin. The connection that he makes is that Toronto and San Jose are in a contending window and acquiring Panarin would only help their chances.

Here is some background on why the discussion surrounding Panarin’s status for next season has picked up traction.

Aaron Portzline who covers the Columbus Blue Jackets for the Athletic reported that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, Panarin and his agent Daniel Milstein met in France to discuss the winger’s future. Unfortunately for Columbus, the Russian winger is giving his team a Sept.13 deadline to come to a resolution.

This has now put the Kekalainen in a tough predicament as the team is in a position where he doesn’t want to lose Panarin for nothing. The winger has made it clear that he doesn’t envision spending the next eight years in Columbus according to Milstein.

"“[Panarin] loves the team, he loves the coach. It’s not the team or the way they treat him,” Milstein told Portzline of the Athletic. “It’s about, does he want to spend the next eight years in Columbus? That’s the only thing at stake right now. If it was a two-year deal we probably would have done it."

It appears that the winger is looking to set himself up to pick his ideal place to play which would be his right as a free agent. Seeing how Tavares was able to do that by signing with his hometown team only increases that possibility.

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There’s no denying Panarin’s scoring ability scoring 27 goals, 57 assists for 82 points this past season and has 233 career points in 243 career games. He is also a dominant possession player putting up a 57.0 CF%  although he’s been used primarily in offensive situations which should come as no surprise given his production.

So why shouldn’t the Leafs try to acquire Panarin? For starters, the Blue Jackets are not going to let him go for cheap and re-signing him would be costly as well.

This is not a supporting cast type of player, this is a player who finished in the top-20 in scoring among wingers in the league. He could realistically get a contract that pays him upwards of $7.5-8 million and don’t forget what it would cost to trade for him.

With all that being said, Friedman also pointed out that this would be a rental option in Toronto’s case. So the real question that should be asked is whether this would make sense given what the team’s needs are right now.

This doesn’t mean that Panarin wouldn’t help the Leafs contend for a Stanley Cup, the team should look to allocate the assets for a defenceman instead.

Also, this is not a team with a limited window considering how young the core is and what prospects could come up through the system, it would be better to roll the dice on that rather than try to make another splash.

That’s why going after Tavares, Patrick Marleau, Ron Hainsey was worth it since it only cost the Leafs cap space and it kept the plan on track, trying to trade for Panarin doesn’t guarantee that.

Next: Where should Rasmus Sandin play next season?

What are your thoughts on the Panarin suggestion from Friedman? Should the Leafs consider trading for the Russian winger? Let us know in the comments below.