from Frank Seravalli of TSN,

On Monday, Zach Werenski provided hope – if not a path forward – that all can be resolved on time, at least for the big-name RFA defencemen still unsigned.

The forwards such as Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Mikko Rantanen and Matthew Tkachuk? They’re another matter of finance entirely. But the structure of Werenski’s deal may have given all a reason to raise an eyebrow.

Werenski, 22, signed a three-year, $15 million deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was arguably the price-setter for the RFA market on defence, the leading comparable for both Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov and Boston’s Charlie McAvoy.

What's interesting is Werenski is scheduled to earn $4 million in each of the next two seasons, followed by $7 million in the last year of the deal in 2021-22.

That means that the Blue Jackets must offer Werenski a qualifying offer of at least $7 million to retain his rights into 2022-23 as a restricted free agent.

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