Blue Jackets Received Enormous Trade Interest In Charlie Coyle
Lots of them.
Don Waddell made that clear when he announced that the Columbus Blue Jackets had signed the veteran center to a six-year, $36 million extension through the 2031-32 season.
"I've had probably 10-12 calls in the last couple of weeks about what our plans were with Charlie and would we consider trading his rights," Waddell said.
The answer was no every time.
Newly re-signed #CBJ Charlie Coyle joined the show to talk about his team's head coach Rick Bowness and what he means to the team
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Coyle, 34, posted 20 goals and 58 points in 82 games this season after being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche last June, helping Columbus to a 40-30-12 record and 92 points, the first time in two straight seasons the franchise has won 40 games since 2018-19.
He was a pending unrestricted free agent, and in the upcoming offseason where the center market is historically thin, he was arguably the best available player at his position.
Waddell knew what he had.
"You knew, being a potential free agent, the market was going to be out there looking for him," he said. "We just felt that he's such an important part of our franchise moving forward. That's how we locked up the deal."
Why Coyle Chose Columbus
Coyle acknowledged that Waddell could have traded his rights at the March deadline and chose not to, despite the Blue Jackets being on the playoff bubble.
"He didn't have to keep me," Coyle said. "He was having talks with my agents around then and he wanted to know if we had fully ruled out Columbus. I said no, we haven't fully ruled out Columbus. I liked what we were building and I wanted to keep building on that."
Charlie Coyle's 6-year, $36M contract with #CBJ comes with a full no-movement clause in Years 1-4, a 20-team no-trade list in Year 5 and a 10-team no-trade list in Year 6.
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He also cited the mid-season arrival of head coach Rick Bowness, who replaced Dean Evason in January and led the Jackets to a 21-11-5 record before the team faded down the stretch, as a reason to believe the program is headed somewhere promising.
"Loved his energy and I love what he's done in just the half year he was here with limited opportunity to fully do what he does," Coyle said of Bowness. "So I'm pretty pumped to see what a full year of Bones will do for us."
The extension carries a full no-movement clause for the first four years, a 20-team no-trade list in year five, and a 10-team no-trade list in year six.
Photo Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
