Confirmed Signing with Link: [CBJ] F Johnny Gaudreau signs with the Blue Jackets (7 years, $9.75M AAV)

[ThisIsMyAlibi]

Sad that he feels he owes an explanation. But, good for him for doing it I guess.

 

[banks]

View attachment 571029Link to post here: To Calgary | By Johnny Gaudreau

I absolutely love the players' tribune.

Glad he cleared the air. And I hope Calgary fans can understand the decision. I'm happy Johnny got what he wanted for him and his family.

 

[Kranix]

I'll have my #13 Gaudreau authentic (with fight strap) jersey burning live on Calgarypuck at 2 MT today. Simultaneous tiktok, instagram, youtube. Special guest, Wilfred Brimley in a sunhat. I will be using matches.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Now he's looking for pity and sorryness from the city? Good riddance.

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

Now he's looking for pity and sorryness from the city? Good riddance.

View attachment 571082

You come off as some bitter ex.

 

[SteelCityCannon]

You come off as some bitter ex.

That's been two whole NHL fanbases all week really.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

You come off as some bitter ex.

Right. I'm actually glad he's gone. He's not worth the money. Flames are better off without him long term. Now they can build the team around a center.

 

[cslebn]

So, people going to go discuss Tkachuk now? The content in here has gotten stale.

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

Right. I'm actually glad he's gone. He's not worth the money. Flames are better off without him long term. Now they can build the team around a center.

Yeah sure. You keep telling yourself that.

 

[BB88]

Right. I'm actually glad he's gone. He's not worth the money. Flames are better off without him long term. Now they can build the team around a center.

The hell?

He’s not worth 9.75?
What planet are you living on?

 

[cbjthrowaway]

The hell?

He’s not worth 9.75?
What planet are you living on?

If you pay any 100+ point player more than a two-way ELC contract you're a sucker imo, I am the smartest person in the world

 

[hirawl]

Right. I'm actually glad he's gone. He's not worth the money. Flames are better off without him long term. Now they can build the team around a center.

Don't stop keeping on keeping on. You're just about to convince yourself.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Right. I'm actually glad he's gone. He's not worth the money. Flames are better off without him long term. Now they can build the team around a center.

Cope

 

[not a troll]

Cope

If the Flames get Bedard I’d say it’s worth it.

 

[summer tooth]

Kind of weird that his letter to the Flames never mentions any other teams. Wish he would have said how much he loves Columbus and wants to play here.

 

[1909]

Why Columbus ? Are they close to winning anything ?

 

[Viqsi]

Why Columbus ? Are they close to winning anything ?

Wow. Welcome to ten days ago.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[JellyRamp]

gudbranson and gaudreau still on the same team will be fun to watch

 

[Jihadi Flames Fan]

Rick Nash: "He said his wife is having a baby, he wants to be close to home." I think Johnny/Meredith need to learn their geography.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Rick Nash: "He said his wife is having a baby, he wants to be close to home." I think Johnny/Meredith need to learn their geography.

Uh, maybe you do?

Its a 1 hour flight or a 6.5 hour drive. It's plenty close enough to home.

 

[PAZ]

I'm still a bit confused by the sequence of events. Trying to piece it together:

1. Gaudreau reaches out to different players to vet potential cities on his list weeks prior to free agency
2. Columbus and Gaudreau's camp connected prior to free agency, but Gaudreau's camp told CBJ they still didn't make a decision/would get back to them (i.e. not his first choice)
3. Gaudreau had a different preferred destination(s) that never materialized/fell through
4. Gudbranson signed with Columbus unrelated to Gaudreau, but told CBJ Johnny would love to sign there
5. Talks happen quickly after that, Gaudreau signs in Columbus

 

[Guttersniped]

I'm still a bit confused by the sequence of events. Trying to piece it together:

1. Gaudreau reaches out to different players to vet potential cities on his list weeks prior to free agency
2. Columbus and Gaudreau's camp connected prior to free agency, but Gaudreau's camp told CBJ they still didn't make a decision/would get back to them (i.e. not his first choice)
3. Gaudreau had a different preferred destination(s) that never materialized/fell through
4. Gudbranson signed with Columbus unrelated to Gaudreau, but told CBJ Johnny would love to sign there
5. Talks happen quickly after that, Gaudreau signs in Columbus

It’s easier with this:



Columbus didn’t enter the Gaudreau chat until after this. Note the time of the announcement, not the presser, everyone knew what it meant. Philly was out.



We know Columbus wasn’t counting to sign him earlier because Jarmo had a press conference announcing his big signing of the day… at 3pm.

“(Gudbranson) was our No. 1 target and we’re very happy to get him,” Kekalainen said. “He brings all the elements that we felt we were missing. He’s a great character guy.

“Our scouts have done this all year; we’ve identified the targets that we felt we needed. Our problem is not scoring goals. We can talk about the center ice position or whatever we want, but we scored a lot of goals. We’ve just got to keep the puck out of our net.

“This guy can defend. He’s a penalty killer. He’s got size and strength and toughness and grit and leadership. We’re very excited to have him here.”

Jarmo had mentioned that he called the Gaudreau camp at noon to say he was interested and went about his day and then all this happened after his 3pm presser.

Their initial contact with Gaudreau’s agent, Lewis Gross, was expected to play out in a similar fashion. The Blue Jackets had Gaudreau at the top of their wish list, and they extended an offer shortly after the window opened at noon Eastern.

Many expected Gaudreau to sign with a club close to his family home in New Jersey. Philadelphia, the New York Islanders and New Jersey were seen as favorites. But by mid-afternoon, the Blue Jackets were alerted that they were very much in the running.

Kekalainen met with the media around 3 p.m. to discuss the signing of defenseman Erik Gudbranson. It was sometime after that gathering that talks with Gaudreau and the Blue Jackets got serious.

“It kind of came out of the blue,” Kekalainen said. “Like, are you serious about this?

“Everybody’s talking about him being one of the biggest fish on the market. We always do our list and at the appropriate time we contact the people on the top of our list, but to hear back that, yeah, they’re one of the teams they want to come to…”

Being closer to family by signing in the East was a goal apparently but Gaudreau really wanted to be a Flyer. He grew up a huge Flyers/Philly fan, spends his off-season in South Jersey and his family is mainly from Philly.

He’s also close friends with a number of players on Flyers and they’re all buddies: Hayes, Farrabee, Atkinson, and the newly signed DeAngelo. He worked out off-season for years with DeAngelo, they do charity (Checking for Charity) in South Jersey together. It’s kind of hilarious that the Flyers went out and added DeAngelo and then never even made a move for Gaudreau.

Gaudreau thought Philly would dump salary and call him. It also was rumored before this that even though the Devils were a back-up plan his wife didn’t want to live in the NY metro area, which is a problem with the Devils because their area is ~15 miles from Manhattan. That also makes the NYI a no go.

He was likely hoping for a bidding war between those two teams but that never materialized. (It’s not like Lou could even afford to add any initial offer, it’s a stretch that they could make this work.) As people have said, it’s not hard to visit from Ohio, so being North Jersey wasn’t a huge win. It’s unclear what they Devils bid was (I’ve heard several different numbers).

Why the Blue Jackets viewed Erik Gudbranson as their 'No. 1 target' in free agency

Gudbranson's signing, for four years and $16 million, raised eyebrows around the NHL.

theathletic.com

Johnny Gaudreau stunned the NHL, and he's 'over the moon' to play for the Blue Jackets

"It kind of came out of the blue," GM Jarmo Kekalainen said of the blockbuster free-agent signing.

theathletic.com

 

[summer tooth]

I'm still a bit confused by the sequence of events. Trying to piece it together:

1. Gaudreau reaches out to different players to vet potential cities on his list weeks prior to free agency
2. Columbus and Gaudreau's camp connected prior to free agency, but Gaudreau's camp told CBJ they still didn't make a decision/would get back to them (i.e. not his first choice)
3. Gaudreau had a different preferred destination(s) that never materialized/fell through
4. Gudbranson signed with Columbus unrelated to Gaudreau, but told CBJ Johnny would love to sign there
5. Talks happen quickly after that, Gaudreau signs in Columbus

Columbus was always on his radar, even many years ago, but I believe he wanted to play for the Flyers as his first choice.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

I hope Huberdeau's goal song this year is DeBarge: