With the NHL trade deadline just a few hours away, teams are scrambling hard to polish their lineups. With their playoff chances at stake, the teams are willing to give it their all in order to get that perfect player. Or lock down who they already have. The Columbus Blue Jackets were the latest team to make a massive move ahead of the trade deadline as they extended winger, Mathieu Olivier‘s contract.

The 28-year-old has signed a 6-year, $18 million contract extension with an AAV of $3 million, as reported by Elliotte Friedman. Although Olivier has been putting up career-best numbers with the Blue Jackets this season—with 12 goals, 21 points, 232 hits, and an average ice time of 14:26—Blue Jackets fans are skeptical about the value of the contract.

While the Blue Jackets general manager, Don Waddell, was all praise of Olivier and justified his whopping $18 million contract extension, the fans were unsure if he deserved it. After announcing this news, Waddell said, “Mathieu Olivier has emerged as a key contributor on and off the ice thanks to his work ethic, dedication, leadership, and other intangibles that are critical to a team’s success.”

He went on to add, “Ensuring that Mathieu remains a Blue Jacket was a priority for us, and we are ecstatic that he and his family will be part of our Blue Jackets family for many years.”  Even as Waddell was happy to have retained a key player for the Blue Jackets, fans were divided on this matter.

Fans can’t believe Mathieu Olivier’s massive contract extension

Over the course of the 2024-25 season, Mathieu Olivier has scored just 12 goals and has 9 assists to his credit. He’s been having a good year by his standards, but he is still a bottom 6 player. As a result, many fans felt that Olivier was overpaid. One wrote, “Why is #CBJ overpaying for an enforcer for $18M for the next six years who has yet to score 20 goals in a season?”

However, another fan sided with Waddell and backed the Blue Jackets’ decision to hand Olivier this extension. Calling out the controversy surrounding his $18 million extension, a fan rubbished the talks against him, saying, “Just a horrendous take, every team in the league wants Olivier.” 

Meanwhile, another fan had an interesting take on Olivier’s extension. The Canadian winger is 28 now, with the Blue Jackets tying him down for another 6 years. The fan was surprised at the front loading strategy, considering the duration but also at the duration itself, considering Olivier’s age. “With many more years bought than projected at his age, we’d expect the AAV to come in a little higher than projected. That said, this type of contract term for Olivier is an interesting decision.”

Furthermore, another X user pointed out an important stat while calling out the contract extension. During the course of the 2024-25 season, Mathieu Olivier has a shooting percentage of just 15, which didn’t go down well with the fan, who wrote, “For a 15% shooting percentage this season? Yikes…” Lastly, another fan brutally slammed the decision, writing, “Seems like an overpay when you can buy nails at the store for like $2.”

The Blue Jackets currently lie in the fourth position in the Metropolitan Division and therefore have a bit of a fight on their hands to keep their wildcard position. Depth and grit will be some of the difference makers as the postseason looms, and in that context, it’s easy to see why Columbus has locked down Mathieu Olivier.