'Round and 'round it goes.
The Blue Jackets open the season this week — as in, four days from now — and they remain without the services of one of their top young players.
Josh Anderson is still not signed. You may have heard about this.
Updates to the situation have generally been vague or veiled, depending which side the information is coming from, but one theme has been constant: both the Blue Jackets and Anderson's camp, led by agent Darren Ferris are dug in. They've each got their parameters and their idea and they're not budging. There's a line in the sand that may as well be a wall.
Recent reports have identified the financial gap in the range of $150,000 annually on a three-year deal, but if both parties wanted that term and the difference was that minimal, you'd have reason to believe it would be resolved by now.
Anderson seems to prefer a shorter-term deal while the Blue Jackets are aiming for something a bit longer, and so we sit here on the first day of the season's first week without a deal.
TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie weighed in with more detail this afternoon:
No movement on RFA front with CBJ/Josh Anderson. Club wants 3-yr term ($1.85M AAV); player would do one-year QO at $735K. Sides entrenched.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 2, 2017
There's still time to make a deal before opening night, but even if the two parties agreed today, Anderson may not make it to Columbus in time for Friday's opener against the New York Islanders. As he's a Canadian citizen, Anderson would need new immigration paperwork and getting it done before Thursday would be difficult.
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