Johnny Gaudreau shocked literally everyone with his decision on Wednesday -- Even the Blue Jackets
The biggest free agent fish since John Tavares has been landed, and Johnny Hockey is headed to... Ohio?
While that seems like a punchline that writes itself, it turns out his decision wasn't all that complicated. Of all the 32 NHL cities Gaudreau has played in Columbus has made an impression on him.
Johnny Gaudreau to Aaron Portzline- The Athletic
Gaudreau goes on to mention past and present players who are friends of his who gush about the Columbus organization.
Portzline would go on to hilariously reference this clip, and Gaudreau's 'contentious relationship' with the cannon.
As it turns out, even Jarmo Kekkalainen was caught off guard. His management did their due diligence and made a call to Gaudreau's team, but it was more out of routine than anything, he didn't expect to hear back that they were interested. Kekkalainen is happy to both have Gaudreau on board, and put to rest the supposed bad reputation Columbus has gotten as an organization for not being able to hang onto its stars or attract new ones. He admits that this slightly changes their plans, but that he fully intends and is happy to make the moves necessary to sign Patrik Laine as well.
Gaudreau was offered an 8 year $10.5 million dollar contract from the Flames, a 7 year contract worth 'around $9 million' from his hometown Devils, while the Philadelphia Flyers Chuck Fletcher, who was also thought to be in the running, wasn't able to even field a competitive offer.
As it turns out, Gaudreau revealed on Thursday that it was always on his mind to play a bit closer to home, but he didn't really have a spot picked out until recently. In the end, he simply knew that he did not want to return to Calgary.
Source: The Athletic
