Artemi Panarin has parted ways with agent Dan Milstein and replaced him with Paul Theofanous, the Columbus Blue Jackets forward confirmed Friday.
So, that was awesome. @9Artemi returned from the inaccessible room with a statement in English on his phone about the agent change.
— Brian Hedger (@BrianHedger) February 8, 2019
He then agreed to speak with us in English, so long as there was no video or audio put on Twitter.
He was fantastic speaking English. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/DGXAdzZgDU
Theofanous also represents Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, a fellow pending unrestricted free agent.
On Friday morning, The Athletic's Aaron Portzline reported that Panarin fired Milstein earlier this week.
Panarin is set to become a UFA on July 1 and told the Blue Jackets he won't discuss his future with the club until the offseason. That uncertainty's made the dynamic forward one of the most attractive rental candidates ahead of the Feb. 25 trade deadline.
Theofanous is Panarin's third agent since January 2017. He switched from Tom Lynn to Milstein during his second contract negotiations with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Blue Jackets management reportedly didn't view Milstein as a barrier to extending Panarin, Portzline added.
Milstein represents some of hockey's most prominent Russian players, including Pavel Datsyuk, Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and several others.
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