from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

Leading scorer Artemi Panarin and Vezina-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky are entering the final season of their contracts. There are no extensions in sight, for either of them, and thus training camp will begin with a pair of jumbo-sized question marks hanging over the franchise....

It’s just business.

Negotiations with Bread and Bob have been stalled for most of the summer. Either that changes, suddenly and surprisingly, or both players will become unrestricted free agents next summer.

And if that’s where this stuff is headed, it behooves the Jackets to salvage what they can by trading Bread and Bob rather than taking the risk of losing them for nothing. The New York Islanders lost All-Star center John Tavares for nothing two months ago. Nobody is saying, “Man, that was smart.”

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