Breaking: Jackets, Rick Nash agree to 8-year extension
As has been chronicled closely here by DP, the Blue Jackets have been in negotiations with team captain/winger Rick Nash. It is being reported that the team and Nash have agreed to terms, resulting in an eight-year, $62.4M extension. Nash was eligible to be a free agent in 2010 and has been in negotiations with the team since July 1. I’m sure much more analysis will be forthcoming from DP, but this is big news for the team and the city that we felt you ought to know.
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:12 pm
It can’t be stated from a Jackets’ perspective (and a fan’s perspective) how huge this signing is for Columbus. Here are some details and quotes from the Dispatch guys:
http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2009/07/done_deal.shtml
The Blue Jackets have signed captain Rick Nash to an eight-year, $62.4 million contract extension, The Dispatch has learned. That’s an annual cap hit of $7.8 million.
“It’s a very fair number,” Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson said. “(Nash) made a statement to the team and the city that he’s not out for the last dollar. He wanted to have a fair contract that allows us the flexibility to build the team around him.”
Nash will make $7 million in 2009-10, the final year of his current contract. He’ll make $7.5 million in 2010-11, and the contract goes up slightly each season before Nash makes $8.2 million in 2017-18.
The deal includes a no-movement clause in the first five seasons, and a modified no-trade clause in the final three.
“Rick did not want to go unrestricted (next summer),” said Joe Resnick, Nash’s agent. “He believes in what they’re doing in Columbus. He believes in his teammates. He truly loves the city.”
Blue Jackets majority owner John P. McConnell provided a statement to The Dispatch:
“Rick Nash has been the face of the Blue Jackets franchise since we made him the first overall pick in 2002. He represents everything we look for in a player, as he is a one-of-a-kind talent on the ice and a terrific person off it. He epitomizes the type of person we want representing our organization in the community.On behalf of our ownership group, I am proud and excited that Rick will continue to be a Blue Jacket for many years.”
Nash was at his summer cottage in northern Ontario and did not immediately return a phone message left by The Dispatch.
But word spread fast among his fellow Blue Jackets.
“The entire organization was looking forward to this day,” goaltender Steve Mason said. “He’s such an integral part of the team. To have him locked up that long is a very comforting feeling.”
This deal is fair for Rick, fair for the team, and solidifies the core for a long time. The quote from Mason is especially important, as he’s another guy that will be in this same position soon enough, and to hear him basically preaching team is certainly encouraging. When your captain wants to stay, and puts his money where his mouth is, the other guys fall in behind him. And, as they point out in the ESPN link: “He allowed us some flexibility,” Howson said. “He’s aware that by signing this contract that other players will be able to get paid as well.”
Again, a huge day for the Jackets franchise, the team on the ice, and the fanbase. It cannot be overstated.
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Your move, lebron
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:30 pm
THANK YOU GOD!!
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:35 pm
“He allowed us some flexibility,” Howson said. “He’s aware that by signing this contract that other players will be able to get paid as well.”
–I LOVE IT
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Yea I was gonna say, it’s no Ovie 10 year, 120 million or whatever he signed. Definitely left some room for the team. Well worth taking note of.
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:13 pm
A great deal for the Jackets and Nash! Very fair.
July 4th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Some more stuff to chew on:
Nash structures deal so it helps Jackets
Nash will make $7.5 million in 2010-11. The contract goes up about $100,000 per year before topping out at $8.2 million in 2017-18.
The two sides had discussed seven-year and 10-year contracts, and they were closing in on a seven-year deal late in the afternoon. The Blue Jackets, however, were not content with the annual cap hit of that deal and were pondering a counteroffer.
Nash didn’t wait that long. He contacted his agent, Joe Resnick, and suggested an eighth year to help lower the annual salary cap hit. With that, the contract’s final hurdle was cleared.
How nice that a player is willing to take the initiative to get something done that actually works for himself AND the team.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:02 am
WOOOOOOOOOOO!
July 4th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
IMO this just shows why Nash SHOULD be the face of the Jackets. Good player, a leader, thinks about the franchise’s future as well as his own. It really shows his committment to this team and to the community. I know that Buckeye football is king in Columbus, but I really hope the city can embrace the Jackets even more and give Nash the real star treatment.
And on that note, I am going to watch the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest
Happy 4th!
July 16th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
[...] and if you’re a Jackets fan like me you probably breathed a rather loud sigh of relief when he signed his 8-year, $62.4 million extension earlier this month. Well, I made no secret of how important I thought that signing was and is for [...]
September 15th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
[...] Jackets really had one big goal this summer: re-sign Rick Nash. Consider that goal smashed, as Nash agreed to a huge eight-year extension early on in the free [...]