Overhardt addresses Ryan Johansen negotiations
/Ryan Johansen's agent, Kurt Overhardt, was on TSN 1050 Wednesday afternoon.
On how he responds to John Davidson's Tuesday comments:
“Well, I mean with all due respect, I don't think you do respond. I don't think it deserves a response and this is a business deal for a young man that is obviously just beginning to burgeon in his career and I just think it's business, and it's private. It's between Ryan Johansen and the Blue Jackets. It's unfortunate, but I was raised to have integrity in what I do by the people that raised me and it's unfortunate that they've taken this course but we're just going to ignore it and try to work in good faith to get a deal done."
On why, from his perspective, the numbers and dollar amounts he's throwing out are reasonable:
"Well, I mean, I don't ever talk about numbers with the media. If you look back at the 25 years that I've been representing players I never make a public forum out of numbers. I think that's unprofessional as well.
"But, no, I mean, listen: there's only so many 6-4, 230-pound centericemen walking down the streets. Ryan has got a lot more talent in his tank but he's a member of a 23-man unit and he respects his teammates and he respects his role.
"So there's also a marketplace. And there's accountability within that marketplace. And so the player's compensation just needs to be fit in where first line centermen fit and it's really that simple. So there shouldn't be a lot of drama. As we know, the CBA and the CBA since the 2005 lockout was lifted has a lot of moving parts and star players, or the first line players, they earn their money and they're accountable for it.
"So it's just a matter of making a fit and like I said before, old school tactics and personalization of things - it just, it doesn't do anyone any good. It's September 17 and the young man would prefer to be in training camp tomorrow with his teammates. But unfortunately, some people would rather talk about innuendo and personal attacks, rather than roll their sleeves up and work.
"So we're just going to stay professional and we're going to keep working on it."
On where things go from here, for himself and for Ryan:
"Once again, I don't think it's appropriate for me to discuss any communications that we've had with the club. I mean, the only thing I will say is I'm a very big supporter of being affirmative in negotiations. I'm a very big supporter of communicating, olive branches, etc. So I think there should be an assumption that there are no lines being drawn by our side, there's no lines being drawn behind the scenes, there will never be any lines publicly. So I think the assumption needs to be we're ready, willing and able to move forward - but it takes two parties to dance."
On how John Davidson's argument against Overhardt might be the agent's stance would apply to UFAs, not RFAs; and how much wiggle room there really is for Overhardt's side to get what he's demanding:
"I don't agree with that. That's just systemically categorizing the CBA and I don't think that's correct. But I don't really want to get into player-by-player.
"I think if you put it simply, if you look at the game down the middle - you look at a team that won the Stanley Cup twice in the last three years. You look at their depth down the middle. Why did they beat the teams that they beat. Okay? Unbelievable centermen. And then you look what happened this summer, you saw Dallas upgrade at center. You saw Anaheim upgrade at center. You saw St. Louis upgrade at center. Why are they doing that? Well, you have to have two pivots that obviously have a great value. And I don't care whether that player is a restricted player or whether the player is an unrestricted player.
"And you've seen several players over the years who are still restricted, or finishing restricted deals, who have been paid. So please understand that marketplace - there's restricted years and there could be unrestricted years tied together. But it's a situation where the value of those first two pivots is critical to organizations and I think you've seen several organizations around the league pay their unrestricted players.
"As far as naming individual players, and giving examples, I don't think that's appropriate because that puts a tag or price tag as far as where we're going in the marketplace. Like I said, I won't negotiate this or share numbers or term or anything like that. I just don't think that's appropriate or professional."
On how it can go both ways, with P.K. Subban having initially signed a bridge deal with the Montreal Canadiens:
"No, absolutely. Absolutely. And good for him. And, I mean, good for the Canadiens."
On how his client would respond to an offer sheet:
"Well, we'll have to see."
On if there's any reason to believe Johansen doesn't want to be in Columbus or if he'd be open to leaving Columbus:
"No, you know what? We've said all along and anyone that knows Ryan - Ryan is one player on a 23-man roster. He is a really good teammate. He wants to be in Columbus. He has a lot of respect for the ownership. A lot of respect for the coaching staff. Obviously the utmost respect for his teammates. So we're not going there. That's not this case here. It's just a case of putting numbers on a piece of paper and figuring out how many years might exist for the contract."
Source: TSN 1050/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey
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