Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips August 22 – September 3, 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02 Columbus Dispatch: Zach Werenski seeking three-year contract at $5 million-plus annually, source says PAGE 03 The Athletic: ‘God gives us only what we can handle’: Blue Jackets pay surprise visit to ailing fan PAGE 06 Columbus Dispatch: Michael Arace | Jarmo Kekalainen's confidence in Blue Jackets prospects not shared by all PAGE 08 Columbus Dispatch: How the Blue Jackets and their Metro opponents fared in the offseason PAGE 11 The Athletic: Analysis: Glass half empty — how the Blue Jackets season could unravel PAGE 14 The Athletic: Analysis: Glass half full — how the Blue Jackets can be better than most expect PAGE 17 ESPN.com: 'Let's have all the people write us off': Blue Jackets GM confident in his team PAGE 21 Columbus Dispatch: Emil Bemstrom to miss prospects tournament with facial injury; should be OK for Blue Jackets camp PAGE 22 The Athletic: Sergei Mozyakin: The Greatest Blue Jacket who never was PAGE 27 Columbus Dispatch: Opportunity knocks for Columbus Blue Jackets' prospects Cleveland Monsters/Prospects NHL/Websites PAGE 29 The Athletic: What would a World Cup of Hockey in 2021 look like? PAGE 33 The Athletic: In a league full of exceptional talents, which special skills make the NHL’s best jealous PAGE 40 The Athletic: DGB Grab Bag: About those unsigned RFAs, in defense of a bad stat and laughing at the 1993 Leafs PAGE 44 The Seattle Times: Seattle NHL team’s name? Uniform colors? Here’s where fans rant, vent and even chat over beers about it PAGE 46 The Athletic: Lockout talk: Why each side might (and might not) want to opt out of the NHL’s CBA as the deadlines quickly approach PAGE 52 TSN.CA: The workhorse goalie is disappearing from the NHL PAGE 54 Yahoo Sports: 31 Takes: Lightning's Maroon signing shows why good teams always look smart PAGE 57 The Athletic: Pronman’s NHL prospect impressions: U20 4 Nations, Hlinka Gretzky Cup and more PAGE 60 The Athletic: Hockey stats can be murky enough, so a word of caution before the first NHL season with player tracking data PAGE 63 The Athletic: Power bars, heads-up displays and car-crash comparisons: How player tracking data could revolutionize hockey on TV PAGE 66 The Athletic: Teams shouldn’t necessarily play their defence-first players in the most high- stakes defensive moments PAGE 68 Sportsnet.ca: NHL’s decision to not reopen CBA offers cautious hope for labour peace PAGE 70 Yahoo Sports: NHL decides to not reopen Collective Bargaining Agreement PAGE 71 The Hockey News: Future Watch: The top rookie for every NHL team in 2019-20 1 Columbus Dispatch - Zach Werenski seeking three-year contract at $5 million-plus annually, source says By Brian Hedger – August 22, 2019 Rather than a long-term journey to unrestricted free agency, Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is apparently looking for a shorter bridge to cross. An NHL source closely monitoring the league’s logjam of restricted free agents told The Dispatch on Wednesday that Werenski, 22, is seeking a three-year “bridge” deal for his next contract rather than a longer- term extension with a higher average annual value (aka salary-cap charge). The source said a three-year deal for Werenski would likely include a cap charge that “starts with a 5,” meaning somewhere higher than $5 million and lower than $6 million per season. Werenski’s agent, Pat Brisson, said he would have no comment for this story. Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen did not return a message seeking comment. Werenski, 22, is the Jackets’ last remaining restricted free agent expected to sign a new deal. (Lukas Sedlak is technically an RFA forward, but has signed with a team in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.) Werenski is among a sizable pool of RFA players who have yet to sign, as GMs across the league and agents engage in a waiting game to see who signs first. There are currently 10 RFA defensemen unsigned, which includes Werenski, Boston’s Charlie McAvoy, Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov, the New York Rangers’ Anthony DeAngelo and Pittsburgh’s Marcus Pettersson. Werenski played all 82 games last season, coming off shoulder surgery, and led all RFA defensemen with 44 points on 11 goals and 33 assists. He has 128 points on 38 goals and 90 assists in his first three NHL seasons, putting him at the top of the stack statistically. Werenski, Brisson and Kekalainen all told The Dispatch last week they hope to get an agreement done before the Jackets open training camp Sept. 13 — with Kekalainen saying he is “not the least bit worried.” It is a situation that is drawing a good deal of interest across the NHL, though. Unsigned players and their agents are waiting to see what kind of deals Werenski or another RFA defenseman — perhaps Provorov — will get. The Dispatch was also told that Provorov’s camp started negotiations asking for a whopping $10 million a year from the Flyers, presumably on a long-term deal. Werenski would likely get $7 million a year, or more, on a long-term deal that could cut into his first year or two of UFA status. According to the league’s collective bargaining agreement, Werenski would still have one year left of RFA status if he signs a three-year deal, but he would have added arbitration rights for leverage. Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 08.22.2019 2 The Athletic - ‘God gives us only what we can handle’: Blue Jackets pay surprise visit to ailing fan By Tom Reed – August 22, 2019 NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio — As an NHL player, Nick Foligno must make split-second decisions when time and space are in short supply. As a team captain, he must also find the right words to inspire in moments of adversity. Standing in the bedroom of a 13-year-old cancer survivor, Foligno delivered on both counts Tuesday afternoon to brighten the day of a suburban Cleveland family whose resolve has been buoyed by the generosity of the hockey world. Foligno and teammate Brandon Dubinsky paid a surprise visit to the home of Blue Jackets fan Ryan Kuchta. The Columbus players supplied the young goalie with a team jersey, pucks, autographed pictures and an invitation to their Nov. 15 game at Nationwide Arena on “Hockey Fights Cancer” night. Ryan led the two pros on a tour of his house, which includes a goalie net and shooting pad in the basement and a hockey-themed bedroom recently remodeled by Special Spaces, a nonprofit organization that builds “dream” rooms for children with life-threatening illnesses. Foligno and Dubinsky spent most of their 40-minute visit acting like big brothers, joking with Ryan and asking him questions about his love for a game he hopes to resume playing in the coming months. The two Blue Jackets forwards admired his autographed stick collection and certified contract from the minor-league Cleveland Monsters that pays him $1 and affords him four season tickets. “One dollar,” Dubinsky said. “We gotta get you a better deal.” The highlight of the visit was Foligno’s quick thinking at the sight of a crucifix hanging from the boy’s neck and two dry-erase boards that hang on a wall beneath Ryan’s elevated bed. One board features a quote attributed to Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” “Hey, Ryan, do you mind if I write on this other board?” Foligno said. The seventh-grader at North Royalton Middle School nodded approvingly. His eyes grew wide with wonder as the 6-foot winger grabbed a black marker, got into a crouch and scribbled on the board. “Watch your head,” Ryan said. The captain wrote: “God Gives Us Only What We Can Handle!” Best Wishes! Nick Foligno. “There you go, bud,” Foligno said looking at Ryan. The expressions on the faces of the boy’s parents, Denise and Gary Kuchta, were something to behold. Life has been a day-to-day struggle with uncertainty since Ryan was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma on Nov. 14. The aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which mostly afflicts people under 35, is treated with chemotherapy. Side effects include a weakened immune system, reduced muscle strength, hair loss, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. Both Foligno and Dubinsky have three children. The captain’s life has been rocked by death and medical emergencies for a decade. His mother, Janis, died of cancer in 2009. Last season, while helping the Blue Jackets win their first playoff series in franchise history, Foligno twice had to take leaves of absence to tend to ailing children. The family’s 5-year-old daughter, Milana, born with a congenital heart defect, was hospitalized with a 3 virus in December and underwent surgery in Boston. In March, their 22-month-old son, Hudson, was hospitalized with pneumonia after the boy’s right lung collapsed. “It breaks your heart,” Foligno said. “You just feel for the family because you know what they are going through. Personally, I have been in a hospital room wondering, hoping, praying for my own kids. You just feel that. You also know these kind of moments can take your mind off those terrible times. That’s all you try to provide. “We’ve had it done for us so I know how important it is. Some wonder if these small gestures mean anything. They really do. You are living it every day and you are watching your child battle something.