Blue Jackets sign Foudy to two-year extension

The Blue Jackets gave speedy center Liam Foudy a vote of confidence by signing him to a two-year contract extension worth $1.525 million on Friday. The first year of the contract is two-way, with a salary of $750,000 in the NHL and $200,000 in the AHL, and the second year is a one-way NHL contract that will pay him $775,000.

This shows the team still views Foudy as a future everyday NHL player, despite the fact that the 2021-22 hockey season wasn’t the season that Foudy had hoped.

Typically, prospects in the final year of their entry-level deal want to be contributing at the NHL level or at least be a top player in the AHL receiving regular NHL call-ups. But Foudy, the Blue Jackets’ first-round pick at No. 18 overall in 2018, missed much of the Cleveland Monsters’ season with an upper-body injury and played in just one NHL game.

“Liam got off to a solid start last season in Cleveland and was playing well before he was injured and missed the final three months of the season,” Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a team release. “He is an elite skater. He’s worked very hard to solidify the other areas of his game, and we believe Liam has a very bright future with our club.”

In the 29 games before his injury this year, Foudy scored seven goals and added 12 assists for 19 total points. He has tallied five assists in 27 career NHL games.

Earlier this week, the Jackets also signed goaltending prospect Daniil Tarasov to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $1.05 million. bjohnson@dispatch.com @baileyajohnson_