Johnny Gaudreau shows his dislike for Calgary in his first press conference

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Ryan
July 14, 2022 (7:28 PM)

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Yesterday was the beginning of Free Agency and the talk of the NHL was ''where was Johnny Gaudreau going to sign?''

After refusing an 8 year deal worth over $10 million per season to stay in Calgary, he tested the free agency and many believed he would be signing in either New Jersey or Philadelphia to be closer to his family.

But in the end, he signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets for 7 years at $9.5 million per season.

Flames General Manager Brad Treliving told Flames fans that they'd done every they could to bring Gaudreau back but according to Treliving, Gaudreau made his decision because of personal and family reasons.

Today Gaudreau we got to see Gaudreau in a Blue Jackets jersey for the first time at a press conference and he showed his true dislike for Calgary.

I always kind of dreamed about playing a tad closer to home. But I mean, it didn't matter where I was signing. Our decision was it was best for us not to go back to Calgary and then we decided to figure out what was the best option for us.

Johnny Gaudreau: «I always kind of dreamed about playing a tad closer to home. But I mean, it didn't matter where I was signing. Our decision was it was best for us not to go back to Calgary and then we decided to figure out what was the best option for us.»� Wes Gilbertson (@WesGilbertson) July 14, 2022

From the sounds of his quote, it basically sounds like he wanted to go anywhere but Calgary, which now sounds worse than the John Tavares situation.

What continues to upset fans about these situations though is if the player at the end of the season knows he wants to leave, atleast inform the team so they can trade your rights and get something in return, both the Flames and the Islanders when Tavares left received nothing for drafting and developing these players.

They were the heart and soul of their franchises, fan favourites, leaving for nothing.