Sunday: The Blue Jackets have announced that Sherwood has accepted his qualifying offer and has also announced that Sherwood has been loaned to the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star. He is expected to return to the team prior to the start of the NHL 2020-21 season.
Friday: The Blue Jackets have re-signed one of their pending restricted free agents as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that Columbus has inked winger Kole Sherwood to a one-year, two-way extension. The deal will pay $735K in the NHL and $70K in the AHL which means he has accepted a deal that is the value of what his qualifying offer next week would have been.
The 23-year-old has spent the majority of his pro career at the AHL level and spent 43 games this season with AHL Cleveland this past season, collecting ten goals and three assists. He also got into three contests with the Blue Jackets where he was held off the scoresheet while averaging 6:38 per game. He was not a part of their postseason roster.
Sherwood will be exempt from waivers next season and will likely once again spend the bulk of his time in the minors. Although he had been signed for five years before this deal (two of those slid on an entry-level deal), he won’t be eligible for salary arbitration next offseason as he has only played two professional seasons and needs four years in order to qualify.