The gap between the Columbus Blue Jackets and their leading scorer is closing.
Ryan Johansen’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, has dropped his asking price to within $1.7 million per year of the club’s standing offer, reports Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.
The two sides stood more than $3 million apart, Portzline reports, but Johansen’s agent has reduced its original ask by more than $2 million per season now that training camp has started without Johansen, who flew back home to Vancouver while a deal gets settled.
Blue Jackets president John Davidson blasted Overhardt’s original demand for the restricted free agent for being much too high. Davidson told reporters that the club had extended offers of $6 million for two years, $32 million for six and $46 million over eight years — all of which were turned down by Johansen.
“We’re trying to do the right thing for our organization. We’re trying to be very fair to a good young man in Ryan Johansen who’s got a bright future here. We’re trying to do the right thing,” Davidson said. “And all we’re getting is no, no, no, no.”
“This is not an emotional situation for me or my client. Ryan loves playing on Columbus,” Overhardt told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman last week. “[He] is fully committed to the organization. We’re going to ignore the noise on the outside and focus on getting a deal done.”
Johansen was a $870,000 cap hit in each of the past three seasons under his entry-level contract, which expired on July 1. The centre scored 33 goals and added 30 assists in a breakout season for Columbus last year.
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