Johnny Gaudreau says he had his eye on Columbus for a while
One day after signing a massive seven-year, $68.25 million contract with the Blue Jackets, Johnny Gaudreau met with the media in Columbus. He told reporters that the Blue Jackets were circled on his list for a while.
The 28-year-old decided to test the free agent market, informing the Calgary Flames late on Tuesday night. Gaudreau spent parts of nine seasons in Calgary, recording 609 points in 602 games and winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2016-17.
Gaudreau, a native of Salem (New Jersey), will fit in well with the Columbus Blue Jackets and is just the type of player General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen needed to add.
Along with Gaudreau, the Blue Jackets have a solid core with Patrik Laine, Oliver Bjorkstand, Jack Roslovic, Jakub Voracek, Gustav Nyquist, Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski and Elvis Merzlikins. Columbus also has a fairly good prospect pool/young player group with Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Boqvist, David Jiricek and Denton Mateychuk. The Blue Jackets could become a serious playoff contender in the Metropolitan Division in the next two years.
Do you think Johnny Gaudreau will end up being an effective signing for the Columbus Blue Jackets? Let us know in the poll below!
Source: theScore.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 14 | 223 ANSWERS Johnny Gaudreau says he had his eye on Columbus for a while Will Johnny Gaudreau be an effective signing for Columbus? | ||
| Yes | 100 | 44.8 % |
| No | 123 | 55.2 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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YESTERDAY
MAY 16, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||