Johnny Gaudreau almost signed with Devils before Blue Jackets called

The hockey world was shocked last week when top free agent Johnny Gaudreau decided to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets, though he maintains it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise. In a lengthy interview on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Gaudreau confirmed that he was talking with the New Jersey Devils before eventually deciding to sign with Columbus:

"I was only talking to like two or three teams. I was super thankful that Columbus called during that late hour in the afternoon, because I was pretty much going to–I think I was trying to get a deal done with the Devils, and then Columbus called. I was like ’I want to go here' and my agent got it done."

Gaudreau directly answered a question about the Philadelphia Flyers, explaining that though he still maintains it would be nice to play for his hometown team, he knew for quite a while that the Flyers wouldn’t be involved because of their cap situation.

Now excited about starting the next chapter of his career in Columbus, Gaudreau related how many players he already knew on the roster and how welcome the organization made him feel right away — including rookie Kent Johnson texting general manager Jarmo Kekalainen to offer up No. 13 before a deal was even signed.

With Patrik Laine next to sign, Johnson and other young players in the mix, and Gaudreau penciled in as a potential MVP-level player for the next few years, the Blue Jackets’ offensive group suddenly looks quite imposing. There is some work for Kekalainen yet to do, with just a bit of cap space available and Laine owed at a minimum a $7.5M qualifying offer, but fans will be happy to hear just how excited Gaudreau is about the idea of playing in Columbus.

The Devils, which missed out on the star winger, ended up signing Ondrej Palat a few hours later, handing out a smaller contract but still landing one of the top free agent options. They then acquired John Marino from the Pittsburgh Penguins to shore up the defensive end, eating up more of the cap space that could have gone to Gaudreau.