Agent: Talks between Johansen, Blue Jackets not impacted by Schwartz's deal with Blues

The St. Louis Blues signed forward Jaden Schwartz to a two-year, $4.7-million contract on Saturday. Based on the fact that Schwartz is the same age - 22 - as restricted free agent Ryan Johansen, and that he registered only seven fewer points than the Columbus center last season, it seemed logical to conclude that the Blue Jackets' reported offer to Johansen of two years and $6 million is more than fair.

Not so fast, agent Kurt Overhardt told Aaron Portzline of the Post-Dispatch:

Schwartz's deal has no impact on his client's talks with the Jackets. In a sense, that should not be a surprise. All along, Overhardt and the Blue Jackets have had a far different view on which players are accurate comparables for Johansen.

Overhardt is invoking the likes of superstars Jonathan Toews and Steven Stamkos as comparables for his client, two players who received hefty deals coming out of their entry-level contracts (earning $6.3 million and $7.5 million per year, respectively).

For kicks, let's stack the four players mentioned above in terms of point per game through their three-year, entry-level deals:

Based on this, it's not hard to see why there's no end in sight to the stalemate between Overhardt/Johansen and the Blue Jackets.