CBJWerenski8
Formerly CBJWennberg10 (RIP Kivi)
- Jun 13, 2009
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Item No. 2: Contracts on hold
Blue Jackets president Mike Priest and president of hockey operations John Davidson have whittled through the list of GM candidates and begun to focus on the group that intrigues them enough to schedule interviews. Those will start soon after the regular season ends on Tuesday.
“We’re going to find out who’s available and who’s not, and then get going,” Davidson told The Athletic. “The sooner the better, but there’s no rush.”
The process could take a while, especially if a candidate the Blue Jackets want to interview is employed by an NHL club that plays deep into the playoffs.
The last time the Blue Jackets held an offseason GM search — that was in 2007, after the firing of inaugural GM Doug MacLean — it took until mid-June before they hired Scott Howson. (The Jackets were turned down by Bob Murray and Colin Campbell before they arrived at Howson.)
There are major decisions on hold pending the new hire, including a bevy of contract negotiations. Blue Jackets forwards Yegor Chinakhov, Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko, Alex Nylander, Cole Sillinger and Alexandre Texier are all restricted free agents, as are defensemen Jake Bean, Nick Blankenburg and Jake Christiansen and goaltender Jet Greaves.
“We’ve had discussions with them and their agents, for sure, to get things in place,” Davidson said. “The agents have been told that we’re in a situation where we’re not going to move on anything until a GM is in place. They all understand that.”
The RFAs would all be free to negotiate with other NHL clubs if they aren’t signed by July 1, but the Blue Jackets would have the right to match any offer a player receives. If any player signs an offer sheet with another club — those are exceedingly rare, by the way — the Blue Jackets would have the right to match the offer.
Where it could get sticky is that several of those players are eligible for arbitration, which can be a long, tedious process. The Blue Jackets have come close through the years, but they’ve never gone through arbitration with a player.
Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: Awaiting the reward after another tough season in Columbus
The Blue Jackets once again will be watching closely when the league holds its draft lottery next month.
theathletic.com