The Columbus Blue Jackets make a great deal to lock up Nutivaara for four more years.
Today the Columbus Blue Jackets announced they have locked up Markus Nutivaara for four more years. The 23-year-old’s contract was set to expire at the end of this season.
Nuti has agreed to a four year contract extension worth $10.8m. That $2.7 average annual salary will be seen as yet another coup for Jarmo and the front office.
Regular readers know how much we gush over Markus Nutivaara on this site. He is supremely underrated as a defender and his offensive skills are on full display this season. He is an slightly older and slightly less talented Zach Werenski which is pretty good.
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His 2017-2018 campaign has been fantastic thus far. Nuti, in his second full season in the NHL, has put up 22 points through 59 games. He is third on the team in points for a defenseman behind Seth Jones and Werenski despite missing a chunk of the season due to injury.
And his deployment with Ryan Murray recently has been paying big dividends. The two have cemented themselves as the third pair and their play has kept veteran Jack Johnson out of the lineup.
Murray and Nuti are the best third pair in the NHL. If not for David Savard and Ian Cole meshing so well together, they would be an above average second pairing for any team.
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Future D-Corps for the CBJ
The signing ensures the Columbus Blue Jackets will have four NHL defenseman on contract heading into the 2018 season. Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, David Savard and now Nuti are all signed for next season. Dean Kukan just agreed to an extension but I think it’s a bit premature to label him an NHL regular.
With the play of Jack Johnson this season it is doubtful that he will be resigned by the team.
That leaves Ryan Murray and Ian Cole without deals for next season. The team will work to resign Murray without a doubt. There are injury concerns to be certain but his play down the stretch with Nuti is an encouraging sign for the team.
That leaves Cole as the question mark. They could resign the soon to be 30-year-old and keep him paired with Savard. Or the team could roll the dice on Gabriel Carlsson who they are high on. He has had a so-so season in Cleveland but its not crazy to think that he could make the jump.
Then there is Valdislav Gavrikov who is playing in the KHL currently. He has had a great season in the KHL and Olympics. There are money concerns with the KHL as they recently announced they are folding two teams. The NHL would offer Gavrikov certainty and he won his Olympic Gold medal which is what he wanted to do in staying in Russia.
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These are some of the internal options the Columbus Blue Jackets face on the blue line in the offseason with Nuti on board for the next four years. Another great sign by Jarmo and another great player in union blue for the foreseeable future.