Well, this is fun, right?
Friday could have been boring, with Columbus entering the NHL draft with no first-round pick. Instead, a blockbuster deal was made, with the Jackets trading Brandon Saad back to Chicago for talented winger Artemi Panarin.
The basics on the "Bread Man" is that the 25-year-old Russian stands 5-11, 170 pounds and can fill up the back of the net. Since coming to the Blackhawks from the KHL, Panarin has topped 30 goals in each of his seasons, tallying exactly that number with 47 assists in 2015-16 and adding 31 goals with 43 helpers a year ago.
That's 151 points in 162 games, with the goal breakdown as follows: 44 of 61 even strength with 17 on the power play. In other words, this is an offensive player who can score even strength and on the man advantage, especially when paired with offensive players the likes of Patrick Kane.
OK, so he won't have that in Columbus, but Panarin can flat-out score. First, he has an elite slap shot, as you can see in this video from NHL Tonight. Seriously, you'll enjoy this one.
Looking at a 2016-17 highlights video also on Youtube, you can see Panarin's varied skill set. He's not afraid to skate with the puck in traffic to find a shooting lane, his one-timer is legit, and he can score in shootouts with a devastating shot and smooth hands. Oh, and that's just the first minute.
As you go through the video a few things become clear: Panarin is a danger any time the puck is on his stick, both with his ability to score from different areas on the ice with his hard and accurate shot (it's almost Ovechkin-esque) and his vision. The pass at the 2:12 mark shows a unique ability to thread the puck through a mess of bodies and sticks and still put it in the perfect place for a one-timer for a teammate.
So that's the cliff notes version of what Panarin brings to the table. If you're in the mood for a deep dive, here's a 31-minute video of every goal he scored during the 2015-16 season.
Oh, and before we go too far, in case you were wondering, Panarin can fight, too. OK, he just has one, last year against former Jacket Scottie Upshall, but here it is.
As far as off the ice, if you really want to get to know the newest Blue Jacket, a Russian documentary series did a piece on Panarin that you can start here, with the rest available on Youtube with English subtitles.
But if you're mostly in the mood for something bizarrely funny, the Blackhawks produced a series of goofy videos featuring Panarin and teammate Brian Campbell titled "Soup and a Sandwich." Campbell, of course, is the Soup in the deal, while Panarin is the Sandwich (he's the bread man, after all).
Trust us, just watch.
