‘A Real Possibility’ Fantilli Will Not Be At Blue Jackets Camp This Week

It seems that it’s come down to who blinks first in the contract standoff between the Columbus Blue Jackets and top restricted free agent Adam Fantilli. Over the weekend, we learned that there has been "no progress" towards an extension, and now on Monday comes word from that same Jackets insider that there's "a real possibility" that Fantilli will not be at training camp when the team convenes later this week. 

Aaron Portzline of The Athletic said today that while it remains amicable and "both sides may feel a surge of pressure to get a deal done in the early stages of this week," he still believes that they "did not seem particularly close."

Today, on NHL Network Radio, he added the following: 

I think there's a real possibility that he's not signed at the start of training camp... It seems like they're starting to dig in, which is not a good thing. 

And time is ticking:

The Blue Jackets will check in with physicals on Wednesday, then take the ice on Thursday, and it’s beginning to feel as if Fantilli won’t be there.

We heard not too long ago that the Leo Carlsson $18M offer sheet (and subsequent matching by the Anaheim Ducks) threw a wrench into the Fantilli negotiations. 

As Elliotte Friedman noted, "there was a 'Before Carlsson' and an 'After Carlsson' price with Fantilli."

So where they might have been looking at the $12M AAV range at the beginning of the offseason, the Carlsson 'tariff', if you will, has pushed it up by a few million.

The 21-year-old top center did not show up for the team's annual golf event last week. 

Wednesday morning is the deadline, if we are to avoid a potential no-show at camp.