Johnny Gaudreau admits that he was trying to finalize a deal with another club before Columbus called him back

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.