Elliotte Friedman dropped a name Tuesday that Columbus Blue Jackets fans did not want to see attached to offer sheet talk. Adam Fantilli.
On his 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman said he has discussed the possibility of offer sheets with people around the league. And Fantilli's name came up specifically.
Friedman's question was blunt. How does Columbus feel about it? Are they nervous?
That is the kind of question that gets a front office's attention fast. An offer sheet is one of the rarest moves in the NHL. Teams almost never pull the trigger.
Elliotte Friedman: Re Adam Fantilli: We talked about the offer sheets; how does Columbus feel, are they nervous about it.
But when a name like Fantilli surfaces in that conversation, it tells you something about how the league views him. This is not throwaway speculation.
Columbus enters this stretch with real questions of its own. The Blue Jackets sit 18th overall and fifth in the Metropolitan Division, carrying a 40-30-12 record and 92 points.
Blue Jackets already fighting a rough finish
They are not finishing strong, either. Columbus has dropped to 2-7-1 over its last 10 games and currently sits on a two-game losing streak.
Don Waddell runs the front office, and Rick Bowness has been behind the bench since mid-January. Both now have to answer questions they were not expecting this week.
An offer sheet threat forces a GM into an awkward spot. Match and pay full price, or lose a player without much control over the terms.
Why would this matter now, in July, with training camp still months away? Because offer sheet windows and negotiating leverage do not wait for puck drop.
Friedman did not name which team, or teams, might be circling. He only confirmed the conversations are happening around the league.
That ambiguity is its own story. Columbus has to prepare for a threat without knowing exactly where it is coming from.
Here's the uncomfortable part for Blue Jackets fans. A struggling season on the ice is a bad time to also be playing defense on a core piece off it.
Nothing here suggests a deal is close, or that any team has formally pulled the trigger. Offer sheets almost always stay hypothetical right up until one does not.
But the fact that Fantilli's name is even part of this conversation is the headline. Columbus now has to sweat a threat it cannot fully see.
-
Should the Blue Jackets be worried about losing Adam Fantilli to an offer sheet?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Monster Dylan Larkin trade to a Cup contender gains momentum after Elliotte Friedman's rumor
