Contract talks between Jarmo Kekalainen and Ryan Johansen's camp began recently, and to this point not a lot of progress has been made.
There's been rumors that Kekalainen and co. would like to sign Johansen to a bridge-type contract, while Johansen is probably hoping to cash in on his 33-goal, 60+ point breakout campaign and be paid like a franchise forward Columbus expects him to be.
That difference has lead to little progress since contract talks got underway, according to Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline.
Told the talks between #CBJ and pending RFA Ryan Johansen are moving very slowly.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) June 19, 2014When asked about sticking points in discussions, Portzline suggested the two sides differ on both the money and term Johansen should get in his next deal.
RT @Jtevans0: @Aportzline any idea what the sticking points are? // Probably just term and money. That's all.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) June 19, 2014I speculated a while back that due to Johansen's relatively poor first two campaigns followed up by a borderline elite season, he's a tough guy to extend because there's not a large enough sample to know what you're getting.
He'll want to be paid for the season he just had, while Kekalainen will want him signed at a price that factors in his entire body of work, and as such talks haven't been going overly well.
When you factor in he's able to sign an offer sheet in just over a week and that - while offer sheets are a dying tactic in the NHL - the Canucks may consider pursuing such a route, he's likely going to wait this out to gain as much leverage as possible.
While there's no reason to worry just yet and chances certainly favor Johansen suiting up for the Blue Jackets this fall, the longer this drags out the worse the situation can become.
I think the sooner this extension gets worked out the better.
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