The Columbus Blue Jackets secured one of their top offseason priorities on Tuesday, inking veteran center Charlie Coyle to a six-year, $36 million contract. The deal carries an average annual cap hit of $6 million.
The 34-year-old center was a pending unrestricted free agent.
Coyle, who would have drawn significant interest on the July 1 market, chose to remain in Columbus. “Of course I want to win,” he said. “And I’ve been here for a year, and I’ve seen what we have. I’ve seen our potential. It’s something I want to be here for and work towards. The team we have, the depth we have, it’s something that excites me.”
He added: “It’s there. I know it’s there. Everyone knows it’s there. We’ve made strides and we’re going to continue to do that. I’ve grown to love these guys and love Columbus.”
Coyle will be 40 when the contract expires, but he has been remarkably durable, not missing a game in more than five seasons. Over the past five years, he has played 411 regular-season games, the most of any NHL player. General Manager Don Waddell noted the six-year term was acceptable because of Coyle’s reliability. “He takes care of himself tremendously,” Waddell said. “We all age differently. We see a lot of players who are still going at that age, and there’s no reason — barring something we can’t predict — that Charlie won’t keep himself in that condition, that he won’t be able to play through this contract.”
Market forces also played a role. Coyle is considered one of the league’s top two-way centers and a right-shot center, making him a rare commodity. Waddell said he received calls from 10–12 fellow GMs inquiring about trading Coyle’s rights if the Blue Jackets couldn’t sign him.
In his first season with Columbus after being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche last summer, Coyle posted 20 goals, 38 assists, and 58 points in 82 games, with only 14 penalty minutes and a plus-3 rating while facing top opponents nightly. He gives the Blue Jackets a strong center core alongside Adam Fantilli, Sean Monahan, and Cole Sillinger.
Coyle had never missed the playoffs in his 14-year career before arriving in Columbus. The Blue Jackets were one of the NHL’s hottest teams in the second half of the season, reaching second in the Metro Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference on March 24. However, they faltered down the stretch, finishing 2-8-1 to miss the playoffs by seven points.
“I want to win wherever I go. Who doesn’t?” Coyle said. “Part of me doesn’t want to go jump ship and go somewhere else. I want to do it here, and I want to right the ship and get it where we can get it. I know we have some decisions to make, and there are going to be other pieces that are going to be coming in to help us, but it’s there.”
