NHL Rumors: Seth Jones agrees to six year deal with Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets have agreed to a six year deal worth $32.4 million with restricted free agent defenseman Seth Jones.

Coming into the 2016 offseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ offseason plans revolved around getting restricted free agent defenseman Seth Jones signed. The Blue Jackets acquired Jones from the Nashville Predators in exchange for center Ryan Johansen.

Columbus paid a high price to get a first pairing defenseman, something that they have long coveted. Jones has agreed to a six year deal worth $32.4 million with the Blue Jackets. He will have an average annual value of $5.4 million.

“At 21, Seth is just beginning to tap into his potential as a player,” said Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, via bluejackets.com. “He has everything you look for in a defenseman and is going to be a very important player and leader on our team for many years.”

Considering what similar defenseman have gotten and how well Jones has played during his career, that’s a pretty good bargain for the Blue Jackets. Not only that, now the Blue Jackets know how much cap space they must get rid of moving forward. After the Jones deal, the Blue Jackets have just $42,858 of cap space, leaving them with zero breathing room for other upgrades and making it very difficult to execute necessary roster moves during the regular season. They only have 12 forwards signed, so they’d likely like to add at least one extra forward.

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Expect the Blue Jackets to trade someone like Scott Hartnell, Jared Boll or Matt Calvert as they try to create a little bit of cap space not just for 2016, but for the future as well.

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