The Fifth Liners

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'...

So far the Columbus Blue Jacket s v Pittsburgh Penguins playoff series to proving to be a titantic back and forth affair where to everyone's utter shock, the series stands at 2-2 with over 28 goals scored and all four games have been fighting 4-3 wins for each side. Firstly, it is great to see a struggling side like Columbus make it this far, particularly after my experts dismissed their chances after their strongest link Rick Nash departed for the New York Rangers in 2012. They are not a flashy side and haven't play the most thrilling hockey in the NHL this season, but flair isn't always the key ingredient to a good side- so just what makes this time so effective? The Jackets only just snuck into the playoffs via the Wild Card slot for 7th overall in the East, but after their hard slog, they certainly earned their place. Ryan Johansen has stepped up this season for the Jackets and has bagged an incredible 33 goals in regular season alone which astoundingly has seen h...