Gaudreau admits he was “trying to get a deal done” with another team, but settled for Columbus in the end

It's been nearly a week since superstar Johnny Gaudreau shocked the hockey world by turning down more money from the Calgary Flames to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets as an unrestricted free agent.

Rumors had been swirling for weeks that Gaudreau was either going to re-sign in Calgary or sign with the Philadelphia Flyers or New Jersey Devils in order to be closer to his family... then out of nowhere... Columbus.

How did that happen?

Well, on today's Spittin' Chiclets podcast with former NHLers Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette, Gaudreau went into the details a bit and revealed that he was working towards getting a deal done with New Jersey before the Blue Jackets stepped in at the last moment and sealed the deal for him and his family.

From Gaudreau himself:

“I was trying to get a deal done with the Devils and then, most of the day I hadn’t heard from Columbus. Then all of the sudden [the Blue Jackets] called at like 4:00, 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.’ He got it done in an hour and next thing you know I was signing with Columbus.”

So, it sounds like Gaudreau and his family were ready to head to his home state of New Jersey before he changed his mind at the last moment. That's gotta hurt if you're a Devils fan...