In the continuing saga of restricted free agent Ryan Johansen's quest to come to terms on a contract extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets, though both sides claim to still have positive feelings toward one another, negotiations have not progressed and things seem to have taken an angry turn.
Yesterday, in an effort to possibly shame Johansen and his agent in the media, the Columbus Blue Jackets decided to release the numbers on the variety of contracts they have, thus far, offered the unsigned forward.
CBJ media day off to rousing start. JD comes right out and announces what the team has offered Johansen: $6M/2yrs, $32M/6 yrs, $46M/8. Wow.
— Michael Arace (@MichaelArace1) September 17, 2014
Columbus president John Davidson, in what ProHockeyTalk is deeming an effort to give "virtual transparency," gave the media the numbers on three separate contracts the team has offered Johansen and his agent Kurt Overhardt.
"When you're talking about contracts close to $50 million, I think our group has been very fair and it's nowhere near what they want," Davidson said. "We've been told if we don't give them what they want, they'll be leaving town."
The oddest part to all this seems to be that, despite the apparent war of words in the media, and despite Johansen leaving Columbus to return to his native Vancouver, neither player nor team claims to hold any ill-will toward the other.
Many assume Ryan Johansen left town in a huff today. Not so. #CBJ asked him to be out when training camp starter if he didn't have a deal. — Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 18, 2014
The player's agent, Kurt Overhardt, on the other hand, seems to be falling farther out of favor with Columbus with each passing day.
Jackets decline to meet face-to-face with Johansen's agent, Kurt Overhardt. So, Joey and his agent flew out of Columbus today. What a mess. — Michael Arace (@MichaelArace1) September 17, 2014
''(Our) talks (were) indicating that they weren't going to allow the player be present at the facility,'' Overhardt told The Associated Press in a report from Yahoo! Sports. ''We just thought it was a good opportunity that he leave town and not be a distraction to his teammates.
''It has not gotten contentious on our side at all. We're professionals. There's been no personal attacks or innuendo on our side and there won't be. It's unfortunate that people approach this differently,'' he said.
Johansen is young, only 21 years old, and does not yet have arbitration rights. The contract, especially the one for $46 million over 8 years, is impressive, though of course the length of the contract means Columbus would be locking up Johansen longer than he'd like, essentially paying now to keep him from entering unrestricted free agency later.
According to capgeek.com, only 35 players in the league have signed for as much money or more.
