Christian Ehrhoff dance continues, as Blue Jackets tap their feet
When Christian Ehrhoff signed his one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer, the plan was pretty obvious: Earn some money, inflate some stats and then cash in this offseason.
Well, it didn’t exactly go according to plan: He was limited to 49 games due to injury, posted a points per game average of 0.29, tied for the lowest of his career. That power play, with Crosby and Malkin and points galore? He earned two assists on it.
So here we are in mid-August, and Ehrhoff is still a free agent. He has offers, including one from the Columbus Blue Jackets that Aaron Portzline detailed in his latest notebook:
What’s Ehrhoff waiting for? He’s willing to accept a one-year contract, according to agent Rick Curran, and that’s what the Blue Jackets are pitching. But Ehrhoff wants more money than is being offered, which means that well-dressed men on either side of the table are now playing chicken.
Ehrhoff is hoping clubs will expand their budgets or step a little beyond their salary-cap comfort zones to get a deal done. Teams are hoping Ehrhoff will blink first and take money that is way below the $4.5 million he earned last season with Pittsburgh. Ehrhoff wants to play in Columbus, along with a few other clubs in need of a defenseman; the Blue Jackets want Ehrhoff. The dance continues.
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Ehrhoff to the Jackets is one of those moves that makes too much sense, so it probably won’t happen. He’s a veteran that plays on the right side; the Jackets have veterans like Jack Johnson and Fedor Tyutin on the left, but could use his experience on the opposite rear guard.
If it’s not Columbus, The Hockey Press believes that the Boston Bruins would be a fit if their waiting game with Cody Franson doesn’t pay off.
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