Six hours into the new league year, the destination of Johnny Gaudreau’s free agency remains unclear.
On Tuesday night, Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving announced that Gaudreau, a longtime franchise fixture and first-time unrestricted free agent, will test the market after eight years in Calgary.
As Treliving pointed out, Gaudreau’s decision was made with family in mind — the 28-year-old is from Salem County, New Jersey, and a number of reports point to his desire to be closer to home. That puts the Devils, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers in the spotlight when it comes to potential Gaudreau destinations, with Sportsnet’s Elliot Friedman reporting late Tuesday that “all eyes are on New Jersey and Philadelphia for Gaudreau.”
On Wednesday afternoon, however, during a media presence following the first signing season, Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said the Flyers weren’t after Gaudreau and essentially ruled out any possibility of Philadelphia signing the homegrown star due to a lack of cap space.
Last week, Fletcher signed defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a two-year, $10 million contract, and on Wednesday he brought in two veterans in Nicolas Deslauriers (four years with an AAV of $1.75 million) and Justin Brown (one year worth $1.75 million dollars). As things stand now, the Flyers are over the salary cap.
James van Riemsdyk’s contract has been in the spotlight in Philadelphia — at $7 million for one more year, it would take a sweetener for a team to take him on. According to Friedman, the Flyers are reluctant to pay that price to move him.
That leaves the Devils and Islanders, but reports around the league indicate they aren’t the only ones in strong demand for Gaudreau’s services. According to Frank Serravalli of the Daily Faceoff and Aaron Portzlein of The Athletic, the Columbus Blue Jackets have also made their interest known — and are reportedly willing to pay.
Gaudreau, considered the top UFA in this 2022 class, is coming off his most productive season to date, registering 40 goals and 115 points to lead the Flames to the top of the Pacific Division.
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