- Sept. 15 is the last day any NHL team can hand out an eight-year extension
- Carter Hutton named Denton Mateychuk the player Columbus should be rushing to sign
- Read below for the salary range floated and where Adam Fantilli fits into it
The Columbus Blue Jackets have four days left to do something they will never be able to do again.
Sept. 15 is the final day a club can sign one of its own players to an eight-year extension. The new CBA kicks in Sept. 16 and drops the ceiling to seven years on a re-signing, six for a player changing teams. Asked on Daily Faceoff LIVE which player around the league should be sprinting at that date, former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton did not hesitate.
“It’s Denton Mateychuk with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Last year, he had 13 goals and 31 points. He’s on his third year of an entry-level contract … these are the guys that you want to get ahead of. We’re talking about the defenders who are going to pull big numbers.”
Hutton put the number in the $7-to-$9 million range and called the length itself the selling point, since Mateychuk has never had a real payday. Watch the full segment with host Tyler Yaremchuk:
Mateychuk turned 22 in July and has one year left on the entry-level deal he signed after Columbus took him 12th overall in 2022. He becomes a restricted free agent next summer.
Thirty-one points does not scream franchise defenseman, and Hutton knows it. His argument is where those points came from.
The power play in Columbus belongs to Zach Werenski, not to him. At five-on-five, Hutton said only Justin Faulk, Cale Makar, Jakob Chychrun and Werenski scored more goals among defensemen last season. Mateychuk put up 13 in 75 games while playing 19:11 a night.
Then there is the insurance angle. Werenski just won the Norris and has said he wants to stay in Ohio, but he is two years from unrestricted free agency and has spent this week doing media tours rather than signing anything.
Lock up Mateychuk through his early 30s and Columbus has a 20-goal blueliner ready to inherit the power play if Werenski ever leaves.
Cap space is the complication. Yaremchuk pointed out that the Blue Jackets have roughly $13.4 million to work with once their third goaltender goes down, and Adam Fantilli is still unsigned as a restricted free agent with camp about to open.
Fantilli is the bigger bill and the more urgent one. Getting both done by Tuesday would take some creativity.
Columbus can still extend Mateychuk in October, in January, or next summer. It just cannot offer him eight years after Sept. 15.
