By JOHN WAWROW and STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writers
COLUMBUS – Artemi Panarin is heading to the Big Apple, Matt Duchene to Music City and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to South Beach as the expected breakup of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ star core of players became a reality Monday.
Panarin proved to be the biggest prize as NHL free agency got underway by signing a seven-year contract with the New York Rangers worth $81.5 million. The NHL’s 2016 rookie of the year has topped 20 goals in each of his four seasons and had a career-best 87 points (28 goals, 59 assists) last year.
Bobrovsky signed a seven-year, $70 million contract with the Florida Panthers, where he will take over the starting duties after Roberto Luongo retired last month.
Duchene signed a seven-year, $56 million contract with the Nashville Predators, who are retooling their roster and freed up a significant chunk of salary-cap space by trading defenseman P.K. Subban to New Jersey.
The Blue Jackets came away as the losers in free agency. Columbus took the risk of adding Duchene and retaining Panarin and Bobrovsky at the trade deadline in February, all the while knowing they were in the final years of their contracts.
Columbus GM Jarmo Kekäläinen expressed no regrets over making the decision, saying he wanted to keep his team’s core intact to spur a deep playoff run. Though the Blue Jackets won their first playoff series in franchise history, they were eliminated by Boston in the second round.
The Blue Jackets began restocking their lineup by signing winger Gustav Nyquist to a four-year deal with an average salary of $5.5 million. Nyquist, 29, set a career high with 60 points last season split between Detroit and San Jose.
Columbus also re-signed defenseman Ryan Murray to a two-year, $9.2 million contract and backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo to a one-year contract.