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Why Blue Jackets' $36 million contract for Charlie Coyle might be a massive overpay originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Charlie Coyle is a quality NHL center.
If he had reached free agency, there would've been plenty of teams interested in signing him.
But he never got to that point, because the Columbus Blue Jackets re-signed Coyle on Tuesday to a six-year contract worth $6 million per year, for a total of $36 million.
You can't blame Coyle for taking the deal. In many ways, it might be a massive overpay.
Why did Blue Jackets sign Charlie Coyle for $36 million?
The Blue Jackets likely knew Coyle would be desirable in a relatively unexciting unrestricted free agent market, and they made him an offer he couldn't refuse right now.
Coyle is coming off a season in which he had 58 points (20 goals, 38 assists) in 82 games. He has 543 points in his NHL career spanning 1,032 games.
Clearly, he's a reliable player.
The question mostly comes down to the years, given Coyle will turn 40 before the deal is done.
MORE: The Mitch Marner irony of Auston Matthews' future with the Maple Leafs
Was it an overpay?
In reality, it probably was.
Maybe Coyle would've gotten a free agent deal with a slightly higher annual average value but for fewer years, so this could just be the Jackets spreading things out.
But it probably won't age particularly well:
The Blue Jackets keep one of their most reliable players, though, and apparently that was worth it to them.
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