from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

The most interesting signing of the day was Artemi Panarin joining the Rangers who, after a couple of years of regrouping, are clearly back in business. Panarin left Columbus, along with Duchene and Bobrovsky, making it clear marquee NHL players won’t sign with the Blue Jackets if they have another meaningful choice. So Columbus and Ottawa now have something in common.

Remember, the Jackets didn’t trade Panarin or Bobrovsky at the winter deadline knowing they were heading for unrestricted free agency, and also sacrificed assets to get pending free-agents Duchene and Ryan Dzingel in hopes of a long playoff run. The Jackets won one round, and now all those players are bolting. Making the self-inflicted wound even deeper is the fact that John Davidson, who approved all those decisions as Columbus president, left the team after the season. For the Rangers. Who signed Panarin.

J.D. is a good guy, but he might want to stay clear of the Ohio capital for a spell.

Dallas made a couple of smart, low-risk moves, signing veterans Corey Perry and Joe Pavelski to short-term deals. The Leafs did something similar with Jason Spezza, and acquired two defencemen from Ottawa, Cody Ceci and Ben Harpur.

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