Agent: forward unlikely to sign

By BRUCE GARRIOCH
  

Nikolai Zherdev is unlikely to sign a new contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to his agent Rolly Hedges. (AP File Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Nikolai Zherdev and the Columbus Blue Jackets remain an ocean apart.

And that's not expected to change anytime soon, even after the Jackets learned yesterday that star centre Sergei Fedorov will be out for 4-6 weeks after suffering a shoulder injury on Tuesday.

Rolly Hedges, the Ottawa-based agent for the talented Zherdev, told the Sun yesterday that he doesn't expect a call from the Jackets to end the stalemate.

Zherdev, a restricted free agent, had 27 goals and 27 assists in 73 games with the Jackets last year.

Since the club won't have Fedorov for the next while, it would seem to make sense to try and get Zherdev signed.

"We're dealing with (Columbus GM) Doug MacLean here," said Hedges. "My sense is (Zherdev's) going to be playing in Russia (this season)."

Zherdev, who signed and has been playing with Khimik Voskresenk in Russia since June, has given the Jackets until Oct. 5 to get a contract done.

If there's no deal in place, Zherdev will play for Khimik for $1.5-million (all terms US) tax free salary plus bonuses, which will push his earnings to more than $3 million.

The last offer from the Jackets was a three-year, $6.9-million deal three weeks ago. In return, Hedges countered with a three-year, $8.4 million deal.

"We haven't had any contact with them in (10 days) and no talks are planned," said Hedges. "The thing they don't get is that he has the privilege of playing in Russia.

"When I say privilege, I mean that because there are other players who are in (Zherdev's situation) who don't have that option. We have been arguing about this for four months. When I say argue, I don't mean any yelling because the talks have been cordial, but we're not making any progress at this point."

There was a report in a Columbus newspaper last week quoting MacLean saying he'd given permission to one team to negotiate a contract with Zherdev and that club couldn't get a deal done either.

Hedges said that's simply not true.

The chances of Zherdev getting an offer sheet like Vancouver's Ryan Kesler did recently from the Flyers are slim.

"I'm only going on what I read, and that may not be right, but if there was a team given permission, I'd like to know which one because I haven't had any discussions with anybody," said Hedges.