from Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette,

...I’m now hearing the Habs will go all-out trying to snare Artemi Panarin come July 1.

Of course there are no guarantees they’ll be able to sign the Russian 27-year-old who had 28 goals and 87 points with the Columbus Blue Jackets this season. He is rocking it in these playoffs, with four goals and nine points in six games, and many are betting he’ll end up with his old coach Joel Quenneville down in Sunrise, Fla. Panarin enjoyed immediate success during his first two seasons in the NHL playing under the direction of Quenneville with the Chicago Blackhawks and there is much speculation that the Florida Panthers’ hiring of Coach Q immediately made the team a front-runner in the sweepstakes for the talented winger.

But you never know where he’ll end up and if Bergevin makes the sweetest offer, maybe the city will finally have the kind of AAA offensive star seldom seen in this neck of the woods in the past couple of decades. Or will the Canadiens end up with Duchene?

more