One day after Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen lit afire the public discourse surrounding the stalled contract negotiations with center Ryan Johansen, club president of hockey operations John Davidson provided the kerosene.

Davidson, his face turning red as he spoke, referred to agent Kurt Overhardt’s tactics as “extortion,” and termed the summer-long talks as “embarrassing” and “absurd.”

“It makes no sense,” Davidson said. “When you see the numbers that are thrown at us, we shouldn’t even respond. That’s how bad it is. It’s embarrassing. And if the kid sits out (of training camp), he sits out.

“I wonder if the agent is going to pay him his money back that he’s going to lose by sitting out?”

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added 3:40pm, A longer video of both Kekalainen and Davidson today...