Kent Johnson: the Blue Jackets have not opted for a Juraj Slafkovsky-style contract

One of the things that Kent Hughes is currently being criticized for this off-season is his failure to add a top-6 forward to his line-up for next season.

Indeed, many fans expected (and some still expect) a development in this area, given all the rumours we’ve heard (Martin Necas, Rutger McGroarty, Trevor Zegras and Patrik Laine).

However, to date, the Montreal Canadiens have yet to add a forward to their team, other than Alex Barré-Boulet on the free agent market.

What’s more, yesterday, one of the forwards who had been mooted as an option for the Tricolore, Kent Johnson, signed a new contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He signed a three-year contract with an annual value of $1.8 million.

This is a very nice contract for the Blue Jackets given that Kent Johnson, drafted 5ᵉ overall in 2021, remains a player with very nice potential, practically on a par with a certain Juraj Slafkovsky.

Why am I mentioning Slafkovsky here?

Well, because he’s another young player, like Johnson, who recently signed his first real contract, one that will begin after his NHL entry-level contract.

What’s more, both Slafkovsky and Johnson have had similar NHL seasons.

In their best NHL seasons, Johnson and Slafkovsky scored 40 points (16 goals) and 50 points (20 goals) respectively.

Both have also had a more difficult season, as Johnson has just amassed 16 points in 42 games, while Slaf had 10 points in 39 games in his first NHL season.

In short, these are two youngsters who can clearly be compared, so why did they get contracts light years apart?

Well, the Blue Jackets decided not to take the (risky?) long-term gamble with a youngster who has yet to prove his full potential, despite some nice flashes.

Instead, they opted for the famous three-year bridge contract with excellent monetary value.

As for the Habs, Kent Hughes has decided to respect the salary hierarchy, something that Columbus hasn’t yet done, by keeping Slafkovsky under contract for the next nine seasons.

In short, a rather similar situation has not been handled in the same way by two different teams.

In the short term, Columbus wins, but may regret not signing Johnson to a long-term contract if he blows up in the next three seasons.

On the Habs side, we’re confident that Slafkovsky will reach another level in his development, and therefore deserve the salary he’ll pocket after next season.

Overtime

– This would be a good contract.

– Another three-year contract in Columbus.

– Clearly.

– Of course.

– Read more.