Columbus Blue Jackets: Josh Anderson – Ramblings of a Mad Man

Josh Anderson has been seen as a promising young player for the Columbus Blue Jackets for a few years now, yet now that he has begun to show the promise at the NHL level; it has created a situation that is undoubtedly destroying the relationship between the team and the player.

The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Josh Anderson in the 4th round of the 2012 NHL Draft, and at the time not many people paid much attention to him. He wasn’t expected to be a top prospect by any means. Jump five years later, coming off of his first complete season in the NHL and Anderson is looking for his first big NHL contract.

Days without news of an extension turned to weeks, then from weeks to months. Now it seems as if Anderson may never get his contract from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Anderson has turned into a solid player at the NHL level, and he’s only 23 years old. Yet it may be time to burn bridges with him and send him elsewhere.

Even if the two parties agree to an extension, it won’t be a life-time contract. As a result, negotiations will be required in a few short years. Then the difficulty that has plagued the first extension; an extension in two or three years when Anderson is more proven would be nearly impossible.

Anderson has potential to be a solid NHL player in the future. However with the current cap bind the Blue Jackets find themselves in over the next couple of years, they can’t risk paying for potential. Say for example, Anderson’s camp wants $2.5M over three years. If the Columbus Blue Jackets were to pay that and Anderson never reached his point totals from last year again, then that would leave them with $2.5M less to use while negotiating with players such as Cam Atkinson, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Murray, Zach Werenski, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Boone Jenner and Markus Nutivaara who all have deals set to expire over the next two years.

Columbus Blue Jackets

In theory, that $2.5M may seem small compared to the salary cap of $75M; but in actuality it could break apart a team. If Cam Atkinson wants to increase his contract from $3.5M to the $6M+ that he’s earned by consistently growing and proving at the NHL level and then the following off-season Artemi Panarin wants to raise his $6M to around $8M while Zach Werenski asks for roughly $5M on a bridge deal it can easily create an issue.

That $2.5M could easily cause the Jackets to only have $7M left for Panarin after signing the Atkinson extension (the year before this issue) and the Werenski bridge, which would cause Panarin to walk to unrestricted free agency.

While this is a worst case scenario by far, it is certainly possible. Especially if the Columbus Blue Jackets are able to acquire Matt Duchene like the rumors have suggested. If that were to happen, then undoubtedly one of Duchene or Panarin would have to walk.

Trade Talk

Today, Elliotte Friedman broke the news that Josh Anderson had reportedly requested a trade from the CBJ. Trading Anderson would be the best option for both the team and the player at this point in time. Considering he’s a restricted free agent, which ever team were to acquire him would be able to set their own salary with him.

For some teams, this would increase the trade value as it gives them power to negotiate. For other teams, it would hurt the value as it may drive their salary over the cap.

Teams such as Vancouver, Colorado or even Vegas would be a great trading option. They’re not in a spot to compete right now, however Anderson’s age would give them a piece to build around. In return, the Jackets could get a solid piece which would allow them to compete now.

Vancouver is the hardest team to find a potential deal with, unless the Blue Jackets would want to acquire a defenseman like Alex Edler or Chris Tanev. A deal with Colorado would almost certainly revolve around Matt Duchene.

Vegas is the most interesting of these options for a couple reasons. One option would be the rental of James Neal, which I’ve discussed in the past. Another would be essentially swapping Anderson to bring back William Karlsson. If the Jackets were to try to bring Karlsson back, Vegas would have to throw in another piece such as a draft pick. It would have made the trade at the NHL draft essentially pointless.

Out of those options, the most likely would seem to be Duchene or Neal. Trading a promising 23 year old for a rental as in Neal’s case would be a tough trade to make with no other assets involved, so there would have to be another piece thrown in as well.

Sonny Milano showed up to training camp motivated this year, he saw an open spot and made sure it wouldn’t slip away from him; so the hole left by Anderson has essentially been filled already.Add in Pierre-Luc Dubois and Zac Dalpe making a strong case for themselves, even if Anderson were to sign; he’s likely already fallen out of favor with head coach John Tortorella. As a result, there may not even be a roster spot left for him at this point.

This situation has reached a peak where it will never have a good ending between the two parties. Whether it happens now, or in four years when he hits unrestricted free agency; Josh Anderson won’t be a Columbus Blue Jacket for long.