The offseason means speculation and intrigue.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman is always one to follow when it comes to up-to-the-minute news and info.
During an appearance on Toronto's Sportsnet 590, Friedman spent a segment talking about the Blue Jackets. He primarily focused on looming decisions surrounding the team.
“They have some big cap and expansion draft decisions,” said Friedman. “I know there’s a couple teams out there that suspect that they could make a really big deal with Vegas to eliminate all of those kind of problems. We’ll see what they’re going to do."
With the amount of no-move clauses on the Blue Jackets, Friedman has a point. Multiple players will have to be automatically protected unless the player decides to waive their clause. They could lose a young and talented player if the cards don't fall in their favor.
“Bobrovsky, again in the playoffs, was clearly not himself," noted Friedman.
“The other thing they have to decide too is (head coach John) Tortorella is going into the last year of his contract and based on just the situation, he deserves an extension. I’m curious to see if they’re going to give him one, or if they’re going to say Tortorella has an expiry date and we’re getting to it. It’s going to be a really tough call for them, because you never want a coach going into the last year of his deal. And he deserves (an extension) by letter of the law – he deserves a couple of years.”
The idea that the Blue Jackets could get to this point with Tortorella is both interesting and scary. He was just nominated for the Jack Adams award which goes to the NHL's best head coach. If Tortorella does win, a lot of leverage is in the Blue Jacket coach's corner.
Tortorella deserves a lot of credit for what he did for the team this past year. How the front office proceeds with both the team and coach this offseason is a storyline we'll continue to monitor.
