After informing the Calgary Flames that he intended to test free agency on Tuesday, Johnny Gaudreau was signed to a seven-year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets in free agency on Wednesday. One of the more coveted, but expensive free agents to hit the market this summer, Gaudreau was coming off a career-best 115 points in 82 games. He was bound to cash in but actually left money on the table to join the Blue Jackets by signing a $68 million deal over seven years, when the Flames were rumored to have offered $80 million.
The Calgary Flames were doing their best to keep Gaudreau a part of their roster and made multiple pitches to the forward in the hopes he wouldn’t leave them to find a replacement. Over the weeks that Calgary knew they had a chance of losing him, they remained confident a deal could get done. It didn’t and Gaudreau decided he wanted to start a new chapter in a different city. According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, Calgary has made one final run and offered $80 million in an attempt to retain him. The Flames will now have that money to spend on a long-term deal for Matthew Tkachuk or a different free agent in the hopes the team can continue to deploy a dangerous top line. Regardless, the franchise has taken a hit.
For Columbus, this is a big addition. Gaudreau wanted a change and the Blue Jackets will provide that for him. The New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and Seattle Kraken were the teams rumored to be most interested in Gaudreau’s services. The Flyers confirmed they were never in it basded on their salary cap situation, but Columbus came in out of nowhere and were rumored a fwe hours into free agency to have offered a huge deal in an attempt to make a splash. Perhaps the signing of Erik Gubranson by Columbus earlier in the day might have been a clue since the players were close. It’s a shocker of a deal to say the last and it took seven hours for the deal to be announced.
Gaudreau’s agent, Lewis Gross said,”The Flames did everything they could. This came down to a family decision.” That same family decision is said to be the primary reason he’s joining the Blue Jackets.
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