Talks between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Adam Fantilli are still moving along, but don’t expect anything to happen right away.
Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said negotiations with Fantilli’s agent are ongoing, and he sounded confident a deal will eventually get done. The timeline, though, remains open-ended.
“I’m 100% that we’ll get this thing done,” Waddell said. “It’s not imminent, but we’re talking on a pretty regular basis now.
I talked to his agent over the weekend and going to talk again here today or tomorrow. So, as long as you are talking, I always feel like you’re going to find a way to get a solution for everybody and everybody’s happy.”
Waddell also said Columbus is reworking its five-year plan after the changes brought by this offseason. That means the front office is now weighing what a Kirill Marchenko extension could look like if he remains with the club, along with what a Zach Werenski deal might look like.
Elsewhere, Jake DeBrusk made it clear he has not asked the Vancouver Canucks for a trade.
Before the trade deadline, DeBrusk said he wasn’t interested in being part of a rebuild. He later said he wished he had thought that through a little more, pointing to the tough stretch the team was going through at the time. This week, though, he pushed back on the trade chatter directly.
“I want to say this on the record: I have not asked for a trade. There are all kinds of crazy things out there sometimes, but I haven’t talked to anyone about that.
I signed in Vancouver for a reason. I wanted to help them win, and I still think I can help them.
“This is my 10th season. I’ve been around some pretty good leaders.
I’ve been through a lot of things, learned a lot. I think I can help (younger players).
I may be turning 30, but I act like I’m 25. I’m just excited to get going again.”
DeBrusk has five years left on his contract, and with the Canucks rebuilding, the rumor mill figures to keep spinning this season. He does have a no-movement clause, while Vancouver is expected to keep looking for assets and younger pieces.
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Boeser is in the second year of a seven-year contract and has played 629 regular-season games for Vancouver, which gives his perspective a little extra weight. For a fan base that has watched the rebuild drag on through multiple eras, his willingness to publicly buy in to the new direction is the sort of message that matters, even if the real test is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Top Draft Picks Just Got A Crucial Next Step
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Caleb Malhotra and Adam Novotn are among the names already being mapped out for where they are likely to spend next season, part of a broader development plan that gives Vancouver time to let the prospects mature before they are pushed toward the NHL. It is the kind of patient approach that can pay off down the road, even if the payoff is still a season or more away. [Read more 🡒]