Johnny Gaudreau explains why he signed in Columbus rather than New Jersey

It was one of the biggest surprises in Free Agent Frenzy history when Johnny Gaudreau inked a seven-year, $68.25 million deal to join the Columbus Blue Jackets.

While Gaudreau leaving Calgary to be closer to home in the Eastern United States had been speculated for quite some time, the two destinations that stood out for the New Jersey native were the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers.

Gaudreau appeared on the Spittin’ Chicklets podcast on Tuesday and explained why he ultimately chose Columbus over a larger market…

“For me, I always said I wanted to play closer to home, but [Columbus] wasn’t too close where I’m getting bombarded with friends and family always non-stop coming in whenever,” Gaudreau said. “It’s basically an open door policy, come in whenever you want. That’s kind of the way we are around Jersey Shore here.”

“It’s far enough that me and my wife can do our own little family thing and we’re having our first kid coming up soon. It’s close enough where [family and friends] can come and visit all the time, it’s a one-hour flight, a six-hour drive, so they can come when they want but we can do our own thing.”