Columbus Blue Jackets Reportedly Reach 3-Year Deal with Josh Anderson
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Josh Anderson reached a deal Monday evening, inking the forward to a three-year, $1.85M AAV contract.
Josh Anderson has had a very weird summer with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He began the offseason as an afterthought due to fellow restricted free agent Alexander Wennberg‘s contract negotiations. But by the end of the offseason, Anderson’s name was more relevant than any other CBJ player due to his alleged contentious relationship with the front office over his contract.
The relationship was apparently so bad that just last week, Anderson reportedly requested a trade out of Columbus. Jarmo Kekalainen denied that report, but it showed that either Anderson had demanded the trade and Jarmo was trying to cover it up, or that Anderson (with agent Darren Ferris) was leaking false information to try to make the CBJ front office sweat.
Related: Josh Anderson Requests Trade
No matter what happened, the two sides were able to work something out after Bob McKenzie revealed Monday afternoon that Anderson would be willing to take a one-year, $735K contract, but the CBJ wanted a three-year, $1.85M AAV deal. That one-year contract would’ve been the exact same term-length and money that Anderson would’ve gotten had he accepted the CBJ’s qualifying offer in the summer.
We’re not 100 percent sure what either side was really looking for, but at this point, both sides have to be just happy that this entire negotiating process is over. Both parties seem like they stood their ground whenever they could, but in the end, the best resolution was to have Anderson on the Blue Jackets when they took the ice for the opening game of the season.
Prediction: 13 Opening Night Forwards
Anderson’s reputation among the front office and the team is entirely unknown, but after a lengthy and public dispute, one would imagine that it’s not great. We’re less than a week away from the first game, and Anderson hasn’t spent any time with the coaches or teammates in formal competition.
Despite the signing, Anderson very well may still be a trade piece to get someone like Matt Duchene. Time will tell if that’s true.