<p>The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed forward Johnny Gaudreau to a seven-year contract worth $9.75 million per season, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Wednesday.</p>



<p>Gaudreau, 28, scored 40 goals and 115 points in 82 games with the Calgary Flames during the 2021–22 regular season. He added three goals and 14 points in 12 games during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I think it is 7x$9.8M</p>— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) <a href="https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1547355745972273152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2022</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Believe Johnny Gaudreau's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CBJ?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CBJ</a> contract will be paid entirely in salary — $9.75M each of the seven years.</p>— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) <a href="https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1547369162015744007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2022</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>The Flames originally selected Gaudreau in the fourth round (No. 104 overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. The 5’9″, 165-pound forward spent the first eight full seasons of his career in Calgary, scoring 210 goals and 609 points in 602 games.</p>



<p>Gaudreau recorded more than 80 points on three separate occasions during his tenure with the Flames. He also posted three 30-goal seasons with Calgary and reached the 40-goal plateau in his final season with his original team.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="160"></div>



<p>With Gaudreau in the fold, the Blue Jackets now have Jakub Voracek, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Gaudreau, Jack Roslovic, Gustav Nyquist, Cole Sillinger, Yegor Chinakhov, Boone Jenner, Alex Texier, and others under contract for the 2022–23 season. Columbus also has Patrik Laine as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.</p>



<p>Gaudreau’s reported new deal carries a total financial commitment of $68.6 over seven years. It’s the richest deal handed out to this point in the 2022 unrestricted free agency period.</p>



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