One contender is out and a surprise one jumps in Johnny Gaudreau sweepstakes!

On Tuesday evening, forward Johnny Gaudreau informed management in Calgary that he’ll be testing the free agent market on Wednesday.

The market has since opened and fans are still on edge, waiting to see where the most coveted free agent still available on the market lands.

Per insiders Pierre LeBrun, Chris Johnston and Bob McKenzie who updated the situation many times throughout the Free Agent Frenzy on TSN, the star forward has been linked to different interested teams, which include the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. However it seems like the Columbus Blue Jackets have also jumped into the mix, hoping to make a big splash this summer.

There is a rumoured that the Blue Jackets are hoping to entice Gaudreau with "an absolute whopper: 7 years x $12 million."

On top of that, LeBrun mentioned that the Flyers were now out of the running, which has to be somewhat of a disappointment for Gaudreau who once dreamt of playing for the Broad Street Bullies, his childhood team. After signing some free agents on Wednesday, including forward Nicolas Deslauriers to a four-year deal, worth  $1.75M annually, it was clear Philadelphia was going to run out of money. The Flyers now have $1.7M available on their cap space. 

On Tuesday, the Flames did offer Gaudreau an eight year, $80 million contract which would make him the highest paid player in franchise history, but it was not a question of money. Gaudreau owns a home on the Jersey Shore, and his wife and his family have ties to the region, so he seems like a natural fit for the Devils, who would do anything to get a player like him for a quick rebuild.

Gaudreau is coming off his most productive season, putting up career-high numbers in 2021-22, scoring 40 goals and 75 assists while posting a league-best plus-64 rating and tallying nine game-winning goals. He also got 14 points during a 12-game playoff run for Calgary.

We don’t know when Gaudreau will put ink to paper, but more importantly, with which team it will be.