from Sonny Sachdeva of Sportsnet,

After initial reports of the Jackets testing the market for their star winger due to his unwillingness to negotiate an extension with the club, Panarin and Kekalainen met earlier this month to discuss the best course forward. Little was accomplished during that meeting, however, with the Russian’s agent, Daniel Milstein, characterizing the meeting as “a good conversation,” but with “no contract progress” made.

Now it appears Panarin and his representatives are making moves to nudge the situation towards a resolution. The winger has set a Sept. 13 deadline to discuss his current situation with the club, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, after which all off-ice discussions will be tabled.

That particular date — the start of training camp — means the Blue Jackets front office has roughly two months to either convince the winger to negotiate an extension (which still appears unlikely) or facilitate a trade. If neither occurs, it appears Panarin would prefer to play out the 2018-19 season with negotiations set aside, leaving all discussions of an extension until next summer, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

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