JACKETS
teammate Sergei Bobrovsky. It’s not known whether Kekalainen will meet with Bobrovsky as well.
Both Panarin and Bobrovsky can be unrestricted free agents next summer.
The Jackets already have made known that they are willing to sign Panarin — who led the team with 27 goals and 82 points last season — to the NHL-maximum eight seasons.
Panarin could make as much as $11 million per season on a new deal.
In June, it came out that Panarin rebuffed Columbus’ first offer, telling the Blue Jackets that he wasn’t willing to negotiate a longterm contract with the team “at this time.”
Kekalainen, who has already been in his native Finland, said he was hopeful something could be worked out in a personal meeting with Panarin.
The group is expected to meet Monday morning in Paris.
Panarin posted a video of himself on a boat in France on Twitter and Instagram, saying he was getting ready for the meeting.
“I meet with him every day during the season, so this is nothing out of the ordinary,” Kekalainen said on June 30.
“We’re both in Europe and have a situation that has come up. I want to talk to him, make sure we’re on the same page when he gets here for training camp.”
Panarin came to the Blue Jackets in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Saad at the 2017 NHL draft.
There will not be any holdouts at Blue Jackets training camp this year.
Winger Oliver Bjorkstrand became the third and final restricted free agent to agree to a deal with Columbus on Sunday,
signing a three-year deal worth $2.5 million per season.
The Jackets signed defenseman Ryan Murray to a one-year contract on Saturday, and forward Boone Jenner signed a fouryear deal earlier this month.
Last season, winger Josh Anderson missed all of training camp as he held out before accepting his offer from the team.
“Oliver is a gifted player with a tremendous shot and scoring instincts who has improved steadily during his first three seasons as a pro,” Kekalainen said in a statement.
“He is just scratching the surface of the type of player he can be and we believe he has the potential to be a dynamic offensive player for our club.”
Bjorkstrand, 23, found an expanded role with the Jackets this season as he played in all 88 games this season, including the playoffs.
Coming into the year, Bjorkstrand had
played in a total of 38 regular season games in parts of two NHL seasons in which he split time between the Blue Jackets and AHL Cleveland.
A member of the Monsters’ AHL title team in 2016, Bjorkstrand scored 11 goals with 40 points for the Jackets last season. He also had a goal and assisted on two others against the Washington Capitals in a firstround playoff series.
Bjorkstrand was a third-round pick by the Jackets in 2013 and was Calder Cup MVP with the Monsters three years later.
His new contract runs through 2021; Bjorkstrand can become an unrestricted free agent in 2022.
“He just quietly goes about his business,” coach John Tortorella said last season.
“He’s a talented player. He slides. He’s slippery. He can get into spaces and he can get out of trouble with the puck on his stick.”