The contract talks between the Columbus Blue Jackets and RFA forward Ryan Johansen are ... improving!
How is that for surprising?
Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Post-Dispatch is reporting that over the last couple of days, things have been progressing - albeit slowly - between the two sides. (Coincidentally, the Blue Jackets recently lost Boone Jenner to a broken hand and Nathan Horton to a "degenerative" back issue).
Earlier today, Portzline reported that the Blue Jackets offer was a two-year bridge deal worth $3.25 million per year, but that Johansen and his agent Kurt Overhardt were still seeking $4.5 million a year on a two-year deal, leaving the sides $2.5 million apart.
It's still a fairly sizable gap, but one that shows there is actual interest in and a willingness to work together to compromise and get a deal done.
This is apparently the first time in months that Columbus has tweaked the overall money on the two-year deal they were offering (is that the sound of Boone Jenner's hand breaking that I hear?), and Overhardt has reportedly lowered his demands from $13.7 million for two years to $9 million.
It was only a few weeks ago that the two sides were engaging in back-and-forth "he said, he said" media sniping, and only a couple of weeks since they had ceased speaking to one another altogether.
With the injuries to Jenner and Horton, the leverage has swung considerably in Johansen's favor.
Without Johansen, the Blue Jackets are stunningly thin down the middle of their lineup right now. They can ill afford to allow this contract squabble to drag into the season, crushing their hopes for a successful campaign and possibly destroying their relationship with a budding superstar along the way.
The Blue Jackets season opener is in six days and time is running out to get a deal done.
