Former teammate claims he expected Johnny Gaudreau to bail on the Flames, reason revealed

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Josh tupper
September 15, 2022 (8:40)

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Johnny Gaudreau played his cards right this summer and cashed in with a massive contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. But that wasn't due to a lack of trying from the Calgary Flames and General Manager, Brad Treliving. Treliving worked extremely hard to try and keep Johnny Hockey in Calgary, but ultimately it was out of his control.

According to many people the only thing Gaudreau wanted was to play back home in the United States. That was something that no matter how hard he tried, Treliving couldn't make happen. While Gaudreau's departure caught some by surprise it didn't catch everyone. At least one teammate expected Gaudreau to head closer to home.

Mikael Backlund was on Sportsnet 960 and he provided the following insight:

I saw it coming a little bit with Johnny, had a feeling it could happen that he was gonna walk, even though he said he wanted to come back. Over the years you felt that he missed playing in the us so I had a feeling he could go.

It's interesting to hear the perspective of one of the players, especially after hearing Treliving talk about being surprised by the decision Gaudreau made. But somehow Treliving turned his loses into one of the best off-seasons of any General Manager in the league.