To avoid surprises, Blue Jackets might make side agreements with Golden Knights

The NHL’s salary cap and the advent of long-term contracts given to young players has quashed much of the excitement from the first day of free agency every July 1 and the trade deadline in early March.

It took expansion to breathe some life back into player movement, and now the NHL is bracing for what will surely be one of the most frenetic stretches in recent memory. Once the Stanley Cup playoffs end, teams will begin a flood of moves meant to protect themselves from the Vegas Golden Knights, who will come to life with the expansion draft June 21.

Imagine being Las Vegas general manager George McPhee right now. While the Blue Jackets have been spending months preparing for this month’s proceedings, McPhee has had to do all of that work multiplied by 30 teams. The NHL exacted a $500 million fee from the Las Vegas franchise to join the league, so they arranged the

draft in a way that could make the Knights (at the least) competitive right away.

But the Knights, according to sources around the league, are planning to build their roster in a more classic expansion sense. That is, they will go young, cheap and with an eye to the future. There will be very few cases — 15 or fewer — in which McPhee simply takes the best available player off another NHL roster.

Here’s a look at the Blue Jackets’ situation, and the scuttlebutt about what they might do. Keep in mind, McPhee and his staff are considering these moving parts with all 30 franchises, meaning his head must be spinning. David Clarkson, who will likely never play again because of a chronic back injury, could be sent to Vegas to help the Golden Knights meet the salary-cap minimum. Hartnell's impact

The Blue Jackets have until Monday to ask veteran Scott Hartnell if he will waive the no-movement clause in his contract to allow them to protect a younger player, say,

forward Josh Anderson.

They haven’t had that conversation with Hartnell yet, and they may not ever. Speculation is that the Blue Jackets already have a deal in place with Vegas, that the sides have agreed to some form of mutual back-scratching that will steer the Golden Knights toward taking a player on their roster who will cause only a minor wince.

The Jackets will send Vegas a prospect and/or a draft pick to take player “A” instead of player “B,” and Vegas will agree to future considerations to make the deal conform to NHL guidelines.

So, if the Blue Jackets and Knights have settled on a deal — yes, it’s a handshake deal, with McPhee’s good word and name on the line — the Blue Jackets will avoid a conversation with Hartnell and expose Anderson, knowing he won’t be taken. Such a deal — if it

isn’t already done — will need to be reached by Monday.

If the Blue Jackets ask Hartnell to lift his no-movement clause Monday, it will likely mean a deal with Vegas has not been reached. If they haven’t asked him to waive it by then, you can bank on a deal being in place with McPhee.

Clarkson — wait, what?

One of the “favors” the Blue Jackets might do for Vegas doesn’t seem like a favor at all.

As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported, the Blue Jackets have had talks about the Golden Knights acquiring Blue Jackets forward David Clarkson, whose career is likely finished because of a chronic back injury.

Here’s the thought process: If the Knights go “young and cheap” in the early years, they might

struggle to reach the NHL’s salary minimum, expected to be $ 56 million for the 2017- 18 season.

Since Clarkson is bound to spend the rest of his career on the long- term injury list, Las Vegas could use him to get $ 5.25 million toward the salary floor. With his insurance policy, they would only have to pay 20 percent, or $ 1.05 million per season.

For the Blue Jackets, clearing Clarkson’s salary- cap hit would help immensely with their offseason desire to re- sign restricted free agents such as Anderson and center Alexander Wennberg and add offensive firepower. It might just be wishful thinking at Nationwide Arena, but it’s wise to expect the unexpected in the NHL this summer.