Sportsnet: It’s looking like Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones isn’t interested in signing a contract extension with the team at this point according to Elliotte Friedman. He has one more year on his deal at a $5.4 million salary cap hit,
“We can tell you that sometime in the last week or so, Seth Jones informed the Columbus Blue Jackets that he will not be re-signing.
Now I’m saying for now at this point because I don’t like to deal in absolutes, but it does appear as if he is prepared to test free agency and we’ll see how Columbus decides to handle this over the next little while.â€
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic: (mailbag) Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen has said that he is willing to hold onto Seth Jones into next season even if he hasn’t signed a contract extension. Will this change now that John Davidson is back?
If the Blue Jackets hold onto Jones without an extension, it’s a risky move for three reasons.
- His trade value would go down as the acquiring team would have him for less than a year.
- There is the risk of Jones getting injured before the trade deadline.
- It would also lead to a year of headlines about the organization having another player that doesn’t want to be there.
Back when they had Artemi Paranin they decided to ride out the year and take a run at the Cup. At this point with what they have, they are not in the same situation.
Jones isn’t eligible to sign a contract extension until July 28th.
