from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

Last weekend, Ryan Johansen told The Dispatch that the Blue Jackets’ offer of a bridge contract was a “slap in the face.” Let us think on this.

A bridge contract is a short-term deal designed to set up a lucrative, long-term deal down the road. Johansen is 21. He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency when he is 26. If he signs a two-year bridge contract, he can pump up his resume and use the specter of looming, unrestricted free agency as leverage in 2016.

A slap in the face is when someone opens his or her hand and uses said hand to swiftly smack the cheek of a surprised victim.

Ah, contract negotiations. They are a hoot.

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from Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch,

Now that negotiations between the Blue Jackets and their leading scorer, Ryan Johansen, have dragged into July, the 21-year-old center is free to negotiate with all 30 NHL teams.

That sounds terribly risky for the Blue Jackets, and nothing worries fans or agitates general managers more than the thought of a budding star — a player they drafted and developed — signing an offer sheet with another team as a restricted free agent. Johansen had 33 goals and 30 assists last season.

But here’s the reality: Offer sheets are rare, and they are rarely successful at poaching another team’s player.

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