Blue Jackets' big-ticket extension with Charlie Coyle is a worthwhile risk

COLUMBUS, Ohio — If you believe Charlie Coyle’s $6 million salary beginning next season is a little steep for the Columbus Blue Jackets, you might have a point. Coyle, for now the club’s highest-paid forward, is probably the Jackets’ second- or third-line center.And if you have a problem with Coyle, who turned 34 in March, signing a six-year extension with the Blue Jackets — he’ll be 40 when it expires in 2032 — that’s a reasonable concern. Look around the NHL: How many players avoid a talent backslide in their mid-to-late 30s?Advertisement