The Blue Jackets have been getting some housekeeping done these past couple days, resigning defencemen Dean Kukan and forward Nathan Gerbe. Both players received two year deals.

#CBJ confirm reports of D Dean Kukan extension. $700k and $750k over next two years. One-way deal. Release forthcoming

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) March 14, 2018

year 1: $650k NHL salary, $250k AHL salary but $400k guaranteed for the season
year 2: $700k/$250k/$400k https://t.co/34Oc1G0uvQ

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 15, 2018

Kukan received a one way deal, meaning he is going to make that money regardless of whether he is in the NHL or the AHL. It shows the Jackets are confident in him as a player, and makes it much less likely he is sent up and down to Cleveland next season. The Gerbe deal is a two way deal meaning he will make a different sum of money depending on where he is, but the team is still making a serious financial commitment to him.

Of the two Kukan is the much more interesting player. The Jackets are going to have some question marks on defence next season with both Jack Johnson and Ian Cole set to be unrestricted free agents. With the way Cole has played with in Columbus you would imagine the team takes a long look at bringing him back. But you never know how Cole feels about the situation and perhaps he would like to test the open market. Kukan gives the team a little bit of flexibility this off-season.

In a perfect world Kukan takes over for Scott Harrington as the seventh defencemen on this team. Harrington as an injury replacement played in 31 games this season and has the worst results of any Blue Jacket defencemen. He has a 43.78% Corsi at 5 on 5 despite favourable zone starts. His poor play is what prompted the call up of Kukan in the first place. Kukan in 10 games before he got injured was fantastic. He had 57.75% Corsi, best on the team, a 60% goals for percentage and was on the ice for 58.82% of the high danger chances. He was making an impact in his limited time. Ideally should the Jackets need someone to play 31 games next year it should be Kukan and not Harrington. Don’t expect Kukan to continue playing at this high level but I think he could hover around a 50% level, and he has potential as he’s shown, to be really good for short stretches.

The Gerbe deal looks to be more of an AHL deal with an outside shot at getting a couple games in the NHL. The Cleveland Monsters have been disastrous this year. Through 60 games they are the worst team in the league sitting at 48 points. They have scored just 144 goals, the second fewest in the league and allowed 203, tied for the fourth most. Gerbe in 18 games with the Monsters has been one of their more effective players with two goals and 11 assists. The Jackets are going to need some good players in the AHL as it’s tough to develop talent in the AHL when the situation is as bad as this.

You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot

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