Johnny Gaudreau admits that he was trying to finalize a deal with another club before Columbus called him back
Johnny Gaudreau electing to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets, of all teams, during free agency was the biggest surprise of the summer in the NHL - and yes, that includes the Habs picking Juraj Slafkovsky over Shane Wright at 1st overall and seeing Wright slide to #4 overall.
Almost everyone had imagined that Gaudreau would be headed to Philadelphia to join a Flyers team that he has adored since childhood. When Philly became a non-option for him, Gaudreau's next projected location was New Jersey, as he himself is a New Jersey native, followed closely by the New York Islanders.
Gaudreau revealed after signing with the Blue Jackets last week that he really had no idea where he would end up. He just knew that he did not want to return to Calgary.
Johnny Hockey appeared on episode 398 of Spittin' Chiclets this week, where he revealed that, at the time that Columbus called him back, he was actually in the process of trying to finalize a deal with another club within the Metropolitan Division.
For Columbus, they must be counting their blessings right now after the stars had aligned for them and that GM Jarmo Kekalainen had picked up the phone when he did instead of waiting a couple of hours. Otherwise, we could have very well saw Gaudreau complete his deal with New Jersey and allow the Devils to take the next step instead of accelerating the rebuild in Columbus, one of New Jersey's divisional rivals.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 19 | 52 ANSWERS Johnny Gaudreau admits that he was trying to finalize a deal with another club before Columbus called him back Now that Johnny Gaudreau has signed in Columbus, are the Blue Jackets contenders in the Metro Division? | ||
| No | 37 | 71.2 % |
| Yes | 3 | 5.8 % |
| They're still a year or two away | 12 | 23.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
