Columbus Blue Jackets sign Ryan Johansen to three-year deal

By Cory Buck | Oct 6, 2014

Apr 28, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets center Ryan Johansen (19) carries the puck under pursuit from Pittsburgh Penguins center Brandon Sutter (16) in game six of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports /

The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed Ryan Johansen to a three-year deal

Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reports that the Columbus Blue Jackets have signed restricted free agent center Ryan Johansen to a three year deal worth $12 million. The two sides had a summer-long standoff that extended through training camp and preseason to mere days before the team’s opener against the Buffalo Sabres. The deal is friendly for the Blue Jackets, but comes with a caveat that will ensure Johansen gets the pay day he will likely deserve when the two sides negotiate once more in three years.

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Ryan Johansen will earn $3 million in each of the first two seasons of this deal, which is a vast underpayment if Johansen repeats his 30-goal performance from last season in either of the next two seasons. However, it’s the third season that will tip the scale in Johansen’s favor for future negotiations.

The team will owe Johansen $6 million in the third and final year of his contract, meaning that Johansen not only has a big pay day coming his way in 2016, but he has a much more palatable bottom line with which he can negotiate if contract talks are once again difficult. Johansen will have rights to arbitration and the team will have to pay him at least $6 million based on that award if they don’t first sign him to a deal he likes.

The Blue Jackets got the terms they wanted and the money they wanted, but management would be wise to not forget the acrimony that built over the past summer between the team and Johansen’s camp.

If the Jackets can’t follow up on their playoff season last year and win some playoff rounds in the next three seasons, Johansen could have them in a very uncomfortable spot when he decides how tough he wants to make things for the front office and how much he wants to remain in Columbus. For now, he and the team can focus on improvement so that all parties are in good spirits come the summer of 2017.

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