Jackets Extend Brassard

The Blue Jackets took a big step towards ensuring their future seasons have some flair to them, as they extended the contract of Derrick Brassard on Friday, who is entering his final year of his entry-level deal. Brassard signed a 4-year contract extension, reportedly worth $13 million in total. At $13 million, his annual cap hit will be $3.25 million per season, but that won't kick in until the 2010/'11 season.

Brassard has had a hard time fully breaking into the NHL, playing only 17 games in 2008, in an up-and-down role from the minors, and playing only 31 games in 2009, largely due to a major shoulder injury suffered in January. Brassard's 2009 numbers were not bad, despite the injury, scoring 10 goals and 15 assists in his time with the club. He raised a lot of eyebrows and earned a lot of praise during the year, so it will be interesting how he bounces back from the injury.

Like it was mentioned before, this new deal will not affect the cap number for this season. Brassard's entry-level deal has some minimal bonuses, so his cap number for this season is still rather low. The Blue Jackets overall are still in great shape, having 22 players ready for their roster at an approximate cap hit of $47.4 million. Of course, looking ahead to the 2010/'11 season, the Blue Jackets currently have 15 players signed on for an approximate cap hit of $40 million, including Brassard's new deal. They remain in good shape through the season.

I'm not 100% sure what to think about Brassard, but he did impress me in his near-half of a season last year. The Jackets are moving towards being a very offensively gifted team, with the likes of Rick Nash, Nikita Filatov, Jakub Voracek, Kristian Huselius and R.J. Umberger all signed on and ready to go. Since there is a shoulder injury to recover from, I'm not going to go all out with a prediction for his season. I'll say he'll be due for a good year, but maybe not a great year.