On Monday Blue Jackets General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen met with star forward Artemi Panarin. The two met in Nice, France to discuss Panarin’s future in Columbus.

Meeting between Jarmo Kekalainen and Panarin took 45 minutes. Told that Artemi is still not ready to sign a long term deal #CBJ

— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) July 16, 2018

Kekalainen is not commenting on how the meeting went. From Panarin’s side it sounds like the meeting went well, but no progress has been made toward a contract.

Meeting between #CBJ GM Jarmo Kekalainen and F Artemi Panarin has finished in Paris. Kekalainen declined comment. Daniel Milstein, agent for Panarin, said it was “good conversation,” but “no contract progress at this time.”

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) July 16, 2018

So what to make of all this? With neither side saying much it seems like the situation hasn’t changed. Panarin still isn’t ready to commit long term to Columbus, and a 45 minute meeting wasn’t going to change his mind.

The time to really change Panarin’s mind is this season. You put a contending team around him and show him how the city of Columbus embraces this team and embraces him. Even then he still might have his heart set on being close to a large body of water.

The big thing here is that the team and the player are on the same page. No one is getting blindsided. Panarin has made it clear he’s not ready to sign an extension. He didn’t have to come out and say that. He could have waited till mid-season or not at all. By doing this in the summer it gives the team a chance to plan for this whether it’s trading him or keeping him for the season, they can figure out what they want to do this summer.

You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot

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