Aaron Portzline of The Athletic: It is going to be an important offseason for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“There are a lot of uncertainties,” Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said. “You know, whether it’s unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, goaltending, coaching … really it’s all of the above.”
The Blue Jackets will try to extend Jones this offseason and how talks go will play a big role in the direction of the franchise.
“Well, I’m just unwinding from the season,” Jones said. “As you guys know, I can … I’m still here for another year, as of now, and I can’t sign an extension until July anyway.
“But, of course, you have talks … my agent and the GM and myself will have talks well before that, so we’ll just see where it goes.”
If he won’t sign an extension, there will be a huge ripple effect. They would likely look to trade him quickly and it would signal another rebuild for the project the Blue Jackets.
TSN: Pierre LeBrun said that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones could become the top available defenseman. He has one year left on his contract and the Blue Jackets have already reached out to start extension talks.
“Now, I’m not saying, everyone calm down, that he’s being moved definitely. What, I’m saying is that this is a crossroads off-season for Seth Jones and the Columbus Blue Jackets because of his contract situation.
Now, he did raise eyebrows with his comments during his season-ending availability when he talked about not wanting to make any quick decisions and that he has a year left on his deal and he’s going to be around for at least a year. A lot of GMs around the league looked at those comments and said ‘oh, oh, what does that mean?’
Well, I don’t think that the Jackets are concerned. I think they view that as some posturing ahead of a big contract negotiation. I can tell you the Jackets have already reached out to Seth Jones camp to want to get the ball rolling on those conversations. This is, arguably, the most important contract negotiation in Jackets history. Pat Brisson, the agent for Seth Jones, intends to speak to his client by the end of the week to start getting the ball rolling on what they want to do this off-season. “
