The Contrarian dives deep into the Ryan Johansen stalemate.

On September 17, 2014 Damien Cox wrote an article for Sportsnet called "The real reason Johansen won't get paid". I am here to tell you that he will get paid.

Cox's argument doesn't come from Johansen's limited career stat line where he only earned 63 points in 82 games last year. He in fact claims that "[He's} a blue chip, 22-year-old, 6-foot-4 inch centre who was the fourth overall draft pick in his year and who has blossomed into a front-line player with 33 goals last season."

The reason he gives as to why the Columbus Blue Jackets won't pay is that they've already over paid for some of his teammates, "[They] can't afford to pay him within the budget they've had to set because of the money-losing seasons the team has experienced of late in a small market, and because players of much less impact and importance on their team are paid too much."

He goes on to use and example, "Columbus can't, or won't, pay Johansen $5 million or $6 million because it's paying Nick Foligno, to pick one player, more than $3 million."

Well if the Blue Jackets are willing to over pay for less talented players then why wouldn't they over pay for more gifted ones?

John Davidson has publically announced that they offered up to $46 million for eight years (Canadian Press article on tsn.ca). So we know that they are already willing to pay over five million for his services.

Johansen is a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights so his only negotiating tactic is to hold out if he thinks he can command more than that. It is his agent, who is taking direction from Johansen, which comes under fire though.

"So teams like Columbus have to hold the line with players like Johansen, and they'll demonize the agent while trying not to alienate the player to do that", says Cox.

In another article for Sportsnet, this one by Elliotte Friedman, titled "With agent in spotlight, Johansen talks hindered" he quotes Davidson as saying "When you see numbers that are thrown at us, we shouldn't even respond. That's how bad it is. It's embarrassing. And if the kid sits out, he sits out. I wonder if the agent's going to pay him his money back that he's going to lose by sitting out… With the numbers they come back with…are so one-sided it's nonsensical. It's extortion is what it is."

He also quotes GM Jarmo Kekalainen, "From their side, hopefully, this should be about Ryan Johansen and his future, his long-term future and his long-term future with the Blue Jackets. This shouldn't be about setting a new standard or about an agent breaking records."

"A lot of people say it who are writers, broadcasters, fans… they don't understand the process. They don't understand the CBA. It's sitting there. It's a document. What are we supposed to do, give in when we have rights? Give in when they have rights? Just give in? It doesn't make sense", continues Davidson on the generalized thought of meeting halfway between both parties numbers.

What is so hard to understand? The player has no other option but to withhold his services if he feels that he should be paid more than what they are offering. He doesn't get paid a single cent until he agrees to a contract so the team saves some money while he misses pay cheques.

Much has been written by many others about Kurt Overhardt's (KO Sports, Inc.) negotiating tactics.

Brendan Morrison held out till late October. Marty Turco ended his holdout during camp. Ryan Kesler received an offer sheet from Philadelphia which Vancouver then matched. Brandon Dubinsky held out for eight days when he was a Ranger. Most notably, Kyle Turris didn't agree to terms with the Coyotes until November.

However, what people don't say is that several other clients, Matt Carle, Travis Zajac, Brian Elliot, Mike Smith and Kevin Bieksa, have signed deals without issue. In the Friedman article Bieksa confirmed that he told Overhardt to take less in order to re-sign with Vancouver. Even Columbus' own Dubinsky signed a six year contract extension this summer and negotiations were reportedly smooth.

*A brief aside, if you have Kerby Rychel (Columbus) or Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg) you should evaluate if they will be going through the same thing a few years from now because Overhardt represents them too.

I also found it funny that Kekalainen talked about setting standards and records since it was the Blue Jackets that hired former agent Bill Zito to be their Assistant General Manager and it is Zito that is handling the negotiations for the team regarding Johansen.

According to his Wikipedia entry, "Zito has negotiated several precedent-setting contracts, including a 6-year, $38 Million (USD) contract for Kimmo Timonen in 2007, making Timonen the highest-paid NHL defenseman, as well as a $30 million deal for Brian Rafalski that same summer. In the summer of 2011, he negotiated a 6-year, $33 million contract for James Wisniewski and a 5-year, $27 million deal for Ville Leino."

Returning to Johansen it remains simple. Disregard the limited stats and history. Disregard any comparable players.

As Overhardt says to Aaron Portzine, of the Columbus Dispatch in "Blue Jackets: Kekalainen doesn't want Johansen to hold out", "This is a very unique, top-line player in the NHL. There is a clear market for a player of this caliber; it's a small market, but he's one of them. There are several teams that covet his size, his skill and his continued upside. If he is not in camp, the pressure slips to the other side."

Pressure on Columbus but they have the leverage right? It is there in the CBA that Davidson spoke of.

NHL.com reports that Nathan Horton will miss training camp and probably some regular season games with a back injury. For a club that has struggled to make the playoffs in its entire history they cannot afford to be without two of their better players for very long.

A bad start to the season or some additional players getting hurt could be the catalyst that will end up giving Johansen the money he wants. Perhaps his rights are traded to a team that can pay his price and the Blue Jackets get some more of those over paid bottom-to-middle tier type players that Cox referred to in his piece to fill in the holes.

There is also the highly unlikely offer sheet scenario. "If he signs an offer sheet, he signs an offer sheet. Our ownership is strong, and as I said before, we would match any offer he could possibly sign. If somebody wants to waste their time and effort on that, that's fine for them. We'd just match it and keep the player", said Kekalainen in an article called "Blue Jackets' Johansen gets qualifying offer" on NHL.com dated June 30, 2014. So they'll pay him what he wants but only if their hand is forced.

It isn't logical but then again who said it has to be? I figure that it will be December when things get settled.

Columbus will by then be out of a playoff spot. They will publically blame the holdout for their low place in the standings in order to save face with the fan base. Privately though, they will be happy to be in the hunt for Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel and it won't be said that they purposely dumped the season in order to get their chance at those two players. The optics of the situation will be in their favor because they wanted Johansen in camp and playing with the team.

They missed out on Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin in Johansen's draft year. Maybe they'll get their hands on one of McDavid or Eichel this time.

It would make it easier for them to accept but like it or not, Johansen will be well paid.