It’s alright if you had flashbacks while waiting for Alexander Wennberg to sign a new contract.
Blue Jackets fans have a stout bank of nightmares to pull from with regard to negotiations, star players, and the thrill ride full of fun that comes with the process. We’re all thinking it, so let’s just say it: the Ryan Johansen saga of 2014 still stings a bit, especially coming off the emotional high of the team’s first playoff appearance in five years and finally — finally! — appearing to have a No. 1 center in the fold.
And then, the madness happened.
Thankfully, there was no such angst this time around. The Blue Jackets and Alexander Wennberg waited until the first of September, i.e. two weeks from the first day of training camp, to shake hands on a six-year deal, but at the end of the day this was a deal that was worth the wait for both sides. The wait was just a necessary but slightly perplexing part of the process.
Jarmo Kekalainen is a smart dude. The player had little to no leverage. No arbitration rights, a restricted free agent, one solid season just completed. Sure, a young player who is clearly a valued and important member of the team is due to get a pay raise (and did), but the collective bargaining agreement limits the number of options for the player and his agent. It was going to get done and, in all likelihood, before the start of the season if it didn’t happen when it did. The alternative for the player is to not report and not play, which is considerably less lucrative and beneficial.
Whenever we get this deep into the summer and a team has an unsigned player, it doesn’t look good. That’s just the way it is.
You could, however, be the Detroit Red Wings: about to open the doors on a brand new arena and all anyone wants to talk about is one of your best young players, Andreas Athanasiou, apparently on the verge of heading to Russia to play in the KHL.
Kekalainen and assistant GM Bill Zito followed a similar playbook with Johansen. They negotiated early in the summer, got nowhere (but it got ugly), then negotiated into the fall, got nowhere, and eventually time became the enemy for the player. The Blue Jackets, knowing Johansen’s preference was to play, made a last-ditch offer on the eve of the season and came to an agreement soon after.
It wasn't the exact same process with Wennberg, but there are parallels. The two sides, in time, likely got to a point where it made enough to sense to make a deal. Regardless of when it happened, it was going to happen. The Blue Jackets are going to like that $4.9 million AAV number going forward. Wennberg won’t hate it, either.
See? Everyone’s happy.
No. 1 center. Long-term, cap-friendly contract. It's all good for the Blue Jackets, who didn't get impatient and were willing to wait to get it done on their terms (because, of course, those were really the only terms available).
CBJ signed Wennberg to a long-term deal and did well to lock up their budding star at a good price. pic.twitter.com/FUlZPzsQFn
— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) September 2, 2017
There’s plenty to like about Wennberg, the very first draft pick of the Kekalainen era.
He’s a no-maintenance personality who is as nice a guy as you’ll meet. His teammates like being around him and he made plenty of friends last year in dishing out nearly 50 assists, helping to elevate the play of line mates Nick Foligno and Brandon Saad. The patience and willingness to make plays in tight spaces and plays that many would consider risky is one of his best attributes, and without it, he may still be finding his way at the NHL level.
When he was drafted, the consensus was that Wennberg projected as a No. 2 center. That’s not a slight, either — second-line centers get paid pretty well in today’s NHL. Jason Spezza is pulling in $7.5 million this season, after all. But Wennberg has steadily taken steps in his development that earned him the right to center the Blue Jackets’ top line, and his investment paid off last season en route to 59 points and the shedding of any “under the radar” label.
Has he arrived? There’s plenty of reason to believe so, but the best players in the game didn’t become the best by having one good season. Top-line centers don't get off the hook easily, from either their opponents or the expectations, and Wennberg will be in the spotlight from Day 1 this fall.
If the Blue Jackets are to repeat last season’s success and again challenge for the Metropolitan Division, they’re not getting there without him.
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