from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

A recent report says the Blue Jackets are mulling whether to buy out the final three years of Alexander Wennberg’s contract. This, only three years after Wennberg put up 59 points and looked like a top-six center, for which the Jackets have always been desperate. Now, Wennberg looks like an expensive No. 3.

While the Jackets don't want to eat any contract, they also have to consider every path to upgrade their roster during these strange times. Creativity is imperative in the COVID-19 era, which has strapped team finances and flattened the league’s salary cap. Most general managers are working off the floor, rather than the ceiling, of the cap. They're treading water....

Kekalainen on Sunday would not comment on the report in The Athletic, where the possibility of a Wennberg buyout was floated. Per the collective bargaining agreement, the Jackets could buy out Wennberg by giving him one-third of the remaining value this year — and it would cost the team two-thirds to buy him out next year. That's the nut of it.

Think of it this way: If Kekalainen can line up a major deal to acquire a top-six center, or an elite scoring winger, then he has to do something to clear cap space. Maybe he has to buy out Wennberg.

"Ownership remains supportive (of spending to improve), but we also realize we have to be careful where and how we spend until things return to normal," Kekalainen said.

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