Well, this just got interesting.
John Tortorella has coached in the National Hockey League for a long, long time. He has a Stanley Cup on his resume and is one of the biggest personalities in coaching.
He also led the Blue Jackets to the best season in their history last year. Nothing to sneeze at.
When he speaks, you listen. During the Blue Jackets' media day press conference on Wednesday, Tortorella touched on a variety of topics but one question about internal competition from younger players got him talking.
"We talk about a young player that is not in camp...he may lose his job. And that's the way it works. That's healthy," said Tortorella.
Whoa.
The comments are an obvious reference to holdout Josh Anderson and his ongoing contract negotiations. Here, in mid-September, the team and Anderson (a restricted free agent) still have not consummated a new contract.
Tortorella followed up his comment by saying "it wasn't a threat" against Anderson.
This comes at a peculiar time as the Blue Jackets will open up camp tomorrow with physicals and, one would assume, Anderson will not be present. Anderson scored 17 goals and pitched in with 12 assists last season, all of which were at even strength. He is a key contributor on a very young roster.
The Blue Jackets management and coaching staff are ready for camp to start - with or without Anderson - and to see what roster battles play out over the next few weeks.
"That's the fun part," Tortorella said. "I think as a management group and a coaching staff we kind of sit back and watch. We won't make those decisions...they [the players] will for us."
