Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell appeared on The Sheet with Jeff Marek today and was asked about Denton Mateychuk. Mateychuk is scheduled to be an RFA next summer, so he'll need a contract soon.
Waddell says, "I've had talks with his representation; we spoke about it last week. We're going to spend some time on it here in the coming weeks. Denton's a guy that loves it here; I know, as a person and as a player, we love him here. So, when you have common ground like that, I'm pretty confident we'll be able to find a resolution to getting him signed long-term."
After what happened with Adam Fantilli this summer, one can't help but think that the Denton Mateychuk contract will be more of the same. The Vancouver Canucks just signed Zeev Buium to an 8-year, $75,040,000 contract extension with a cap hit of $9,380,000 per season. That's huge for a guy drafted in 2024. Mateychuk was drafted in 2022 and has 44 career points, including 31 last season.
