Johnny Gaudreau Opens Up About New Jersey Devils Offer

Look away New Jersey Devils fans, as Johnny Gaudreau broke your hearts and you likely didn't even know it. Turns out Gaudreau was a recent guest on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast and opened up about the wild and wacky moments leading up to becoming a Columbus Blue Jackets.

Gaudreau was rather candid about the whole process and admitted he was looking to play closer to home. The part about the Devils offer though, is something new, here's what Johnny Hockey had to say about the whole ordeal as the team offered him a seven-year contract at $9 million per season:

The day of, I was only really talking to two (teams). I was pretty much signed with a different team, most of the day I hadn't heard from Columbus, and then all of a sudden they called at like 4 p.m., and I told my agent, 'I want to go here. Just try to get this done. This is the spot I want to be right here. I was super thankful Columbus called during that late hour in the afternoon, I think I was trying to get a deal done with the Devils, and then Columbus called.

I always said I wanted to play closer to home, but (Columbus) wasn't too close to where I'm getting bombarded with friends and family, basically an open-door policy, come in whenever you want. That's the way we kind of are down the shore here. … If we did it all year, I think it would've gotten a little out of hand at times. I didn’t think I was gonna get it as bad as I have. I obviously thought there was gonna be some fans not happy, but I didn't think I was gonna hear about it as much as I have. I get it, they're a very passionate fanbase … they love their Flames, and the city of Calgary loves hockey. I understand it's been hard on a lot of people, but I still love that place. … It sucks having to leave. I wish them all the best, and hopefully, they can get over it soon here

The Blue Jackets are now only $2.3 million away from the salary cap ceiling and still have Patrik Laine to re-sign. Sounds like there's still lots of work to get done in Columbus, however Johnny Hockey is secure for the next seven seasons!

Photo credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports