Johansen Pulls A Kadri, Blues Aren't Flinching
Remember last season when Nazem Kadri tried to wrangle a monster contract out of the Leafs and ended up with a two year bridging contract?
Yeah? Well replace Kadri with Ryan Johansen and the Leafs with the Columbus Blue Jackets and it's the same story again.
The BC native and the Blue Jackets aren't seeing eye to eye when it comes to contract negotiations. Now that training camp has started, there's even more pressure on the various parties to reach a deal.
Johansen's agent, Kurt Overhardt has now reduced his price, down to $4.7 million per season from $6.8 million. So that's something but it's still miles away from the Blue Jackets' offer of $3 million per season. FYI $3 is David Legwand money.
The 6'4" center notched 33 goals last regular season. This put him top the table in Columbus, and 12th overall in the NHL. That said, his great season follows two mediocre seasons at the Jackets. NHL teams crave consistency and one swallow doesn't make a summer.
The other thing to consider is what repercussions will this have across the league? There's plenty of RFAs out there and the increase in salary cap buoyed by new TV deals will definitely be prompting some head-scratching. A lot of interested agents will be watching how this deal pans out.
Yeah? Well replace Kadri with Ryan Johansen and the Leafs with the Columbus Blue Jackets and it's the same story again.
The BC native and the Blue Jackets aren't seeing eye to eye when it comes to contract negotiations. Now that training camp has started, there's even more pressure on the various parties to reach a deal.
Johansen's agent, Kurt Overhardt has now reduced his price, down to $4.7 million per season from $6.8 million. So that's something but it's still miles away from the Blue Jackets' offer of $3 million per season. FYI $3 is David Legwand money.
The 6'4" center notched 33 goals last regular season. This put him top the table in Columbus, and 12th overall in the NHL. That said, his great season follows two mediocre seasons at the Jackets. NHL teams crave consistency and one swallow doesn't make a summer.
The other thing to consider is what repercussions will this have across the league? There's plenty of RFAs out there and the increase in salary cap buoyed by new TV deals will definitely be prompting some head-scratching. A lot of interested agents will be watching how this deal pans out.
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