Q - totally agree with this. I wrote the below piece around the new year and was expecting to get some push back but nobody commented!

https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-analysis/2017/12/1564/analysis-blue-jackets-should-consider-splitting-up-seth-jones-and-zach-werenski

Doggy - thanks for the comment. I agree with some of what you're saying here, but Cleveland, through their transactions, suggests they're content with the state of their goaltending. I think the fact that Kulbakov was such a disaster last year is the exact reason they brought in some veteran experience. Kivlenieks is still young, and having two extremely young AHL goalies is a recipe for disaster - so why do it again? 

Next summer will be fascinating to watch. There could be a situation where VV, Elvis, and Tarasov (though maybe less so for him) are pushing for a spot in the organization. I would have liked for VV to have been brought over this year, but a battery of two 21-year old's- him and Kivlenieks- isn't ideal.

I, too, would love it if he signed an identical contract to Jones. The reason that the Toews/Kane and Werenski/Jones examples aren't really comparable is because Toews and Kane signed those identical contracts on the same day. With the inflated salary cap, new salaries are higher. But your point is well taken and obviously that would be best-case scenario. 

Such a good point, I wish I would have included it in the piece! A $2M pay bump is almost negligible given that the salary cap is going up 5-7M, to say nothing about Jack coming off the books.