“Through the finish line pretty quickly” – Johnny Gaudreau signs seven-year, $68.25 million contract with Columbus Blue Jackets
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Johnny Gaudreau
Ace American ice hockey winger Johnny Gaudreau agreed to a much-anticipated seven-year, $68.25 million (average annual value of $9.75 million) contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old forward, who led the Calgary Flames last season, was tied for second in the National Hockey League (NHL) with 115 points (40 goals, 75 assists) in 82 regular-season games. As a result, the Flames reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 12 games.
“He told us this was one of his true primary destinations,” Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, as quoted by NHL.com. “We were like, ‘OK, wow, is this real?’ Once we realized that yeah, he wants to come here, we got into serious talks. We obviously let him know that he was one of the players that we desired the most, and when it got real serious to where he was like, ‘OK, I want to come there,’ then we got it through the finish line pretty quickly.”
“Gaudreau was No. 1 on everybody’s board”
The New Jersey native Gaudreau has 609 points (210 goals, 399 assists) in 602 regular-season games and is placed fifth in assists and points, and ninth in goals in Flames history. He has 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 42 playoff games.
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“Players of this calibre are not very often available,” Kekalainen said. “He wanted to come here, so you can’t pass up an opportunity like this. That’s basically the main reason.
“I think he was pretty much No. 1 on everybody’s board, I would assume, but I can’t speak on anybody else’s behalf. But once we knew that this was the desired destination for him, we went for it.”
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