How The Johnny Gaudreau Deal In Columbus Came Together

The hockey world was shocked to learn that forward Johnny Gaudreau was choosing the Columbus Blue Jackets in free agency on a long-term deal that would put him in Ohio. Even Blue Jackets’ GM Jarmo Kekalainen admitted when he heard the team had a shot at landing the prized UFA when the market opened said he wasn’t sure this potential deal with Gaudreau was real. He noted, “It kind of came out of the blue,” Kekalainen said. “Like, are you serious about this?” But, the Blue Jackets did beat out a number of teams, securing Gaudreau with a seven-year, $9.75 million per season contract.

What’s interesting is that only Gaudreau seemed to know that Columbus wasn’t a stretch for consideration. While teams like the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders were all rumored to be in heavy pursuit, it was Columbus that had piqued Gaudreau’s interest before free agency opened. Aaaron Portzline of The Athletic writes:

Gaudreau said the Blue Jackets were on his list before the free agency period opened, based on the experiences he’s had playing in Nationwide Arena and on conversations he’s had with current and former Blue Jackets, who raved about it.

Portzline adds that Gaudreau is “over the moon” excited about the prospect of playing there, with insiders now noting that the idea of playing in a hockey-passionate, but a more anonymous city was quite appealing. The Flyers never made an offer, so they were out. Speculation was that the New York Islanders put all their chips in but Gaudreau wasn’t really interested. As per Pierre LeBrun, the Devils did make an offer of $9 million per season, but Gaudreau’s agent never got back to them because the Blue Jackets’ deal was on the table. While it took seven hours for the Gaudreau story to unfold, the reality is, early on in the day, Kekalainen made a pitch after the free agency window opened and as the afternoon progressed, talks started to ramp up. The Blue Jackets were informed later in the afternoon that Gaudreau was interested and the pieces started to come together.

GM Jarmo Kekalainen said: “We can finally get rid of the bullsh-t that this is somehow a bad destination, a bad city, or whatever.” He’s excited to have the player and Gaudreau is excited to be there. Columbus will now need to focus on a deal for Patrik Laine, and that could mean moving out to some salary, but with Gaudreau on the roster, Laine’s interest in staying likely ramped up.

What About the Calgary Flames?

While the Islanders are left wondering what they should do and the Devils moved on to Ondrej Palat, the Calgary Flames must feel like they’ve taken a major punch to the gut. They’ve lost one of their best forwards and are staring right down the barrel of losing another in Matthew Tkachuk. Erik Gudbranson also went to the Blue Jackets and Calgary’s biggest play in free agency so far is re-signing Nikita Zadorov to a two-year extension.

This is a team that, if it doesn’t land someone like Nazem Kadri, is going to take a major step backwards this season. If they lose Tkachuk, they might have to consider a rebuild. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets added a piece that will put them in the frame of mind that they aren’t that far from the playoff picture. They’ll be asking themselves what else they can do to get there?

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