In case you can't recall offhand the myriad details of the Ryan Johansen situation as it currently stands, here's a quick refresher: Johansen and his agent, Kurt Overhardt, are locked in a contract negotiation with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Johansen, you'll remember, is a restricted free agent coming off his entry-level contract who is not yet eligible for arbitration.
Johnson is said to be seeking about $5 million per year, down from his original demand of $6 million per, while Columbus is reportedly offering either $3 million per year on a short-term two-year deal, or slightly more per year for deals in the 6- and 8-year range.
The situation has gone on for some time now, and things have escalated. Public musing on the situation has turned to media mudslinging - mostly by the Blue Jackets - and just yesterday led Overhardt to offer a not-very-subtle warning to the front office about potentially irreparably damaging the relationship.
Now, The Hockey News has done something decidedly ingenious and reached out to agents - 10 prominent ones they say - across the league to source opinions on how they feel about the Johansen-Columbus impasse.
The resounding response seemed to fall somewhere between an inability to understand the tactics employed by player and agent, to outright disbelief at their actions and demands.
"I think it's been terribly mishandled by the player and the agent," said an agent, who spoke to The Hockey News on the condition of anonymity. "It flies in the face of all convention. I look at it almost like a lawyer dealing with a client in court. I would tell the player, 'If you insist on taking this position, our chances of success are almost nil. I don't like your chances at all and I'm under obligation to tell you that. "
Another agent questioned the thought process behind Overhardt seeking the deals he's reported to have demanded, as Johansen, though no question a very talented up-and-comer, has not yet proven he can sustain his early success on a yearly basis.
"Don't you have to actually earn it at some point? How many players have had one good year and we never hear from them again? We never learn anything as agents if nobody teaches us. And for the good of the game, management has to be able to do its job. How does it benefit any of us if teams misallocate resources?"
What the two sides are most likely looking at is a "bridge deal" - a short-term contract that allows the team the opportunity to see if the player can continue their success without making too large of a commitment in terms of years and dollars, and allows the player to, assuming they can continue said success, seek a larger pay day in the not-too-distant future.
"That kind of money might make sense on an a longer term, but it doesn't make any sense on a two-year deal," one agent said. "With a deal like that, you're buying only one year of arbitration rights and that's not worth $6 million. And he's a very good player, but it's not like he's head-and-shoulders above everyone else."
One agent offered that perhaps we don't know the full story and Overhardt is simply reacting to lowball offers from the team.
"We don't know whether the player is reacting to a position the team might have taken," the agent said. "If the team proposed two years at $2.5 million a year, then the agent is probably going to come back with a proposal that is out in left field. Then both sides realize they're being childish and roll up their sleeves to get a deal done."
With Columbus already having convened for training camp and Johansen returning to his native Vancouver, this situation doesn't seem anywhere near a resolution. Especially after reports emerged that Overhardt was actually in Columbus for the start of training camp but the Blue Jackets refused to speak to him, or that Johansen and Overhardt have begun fielding offers from KHL teams.
Despite everything, both sides seem committed to finding a way to bridge the gap; the only question is whether or not Johansen's long-term prospects with the team have already been destroyed. At the very least, if Johansen is to contribute this season, he, Overhardt and the Blue Jackets need to convene quickly and find a way to get a deal done.
