NEWARK, N.J. — While thrilled to have signed two-time Stanley Cup champion Ondrej Palat in free agency, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald briefly felt star attraction Johnny Gaudreau would be returning to New Jersey.
It didn’t work out that way. “Johnny Hockey” chose the Columbus Blue Jackets over his home state, and the Devils gobbled up clutch and steady Palat hours later with a five-year, $30 million contract.
Fitzgerald had no regrets Friday in discussing opening days of free agency and a couple of trades. Besides Palat, the Devils signed veteran defenseman Brandan Smith and acquired center Erik Haula from Boston and goaltender Vitek Vanecek from Washington, adding to a young team led by Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.
According to several reports, New Jersey offered Gaudreau a seven-year contract worth more than $9 million annually. He accepted a $68.5 deal with the Blue Jackets — which averaged out to $9.75 million a season.
Fitzgerald admitted to having visions of Gaudreau skating in the team’s red, white and blacks colors. And he had good reason. He knew the player and his wife. His son played with Gaudreau at Boston College and roomed with Matty Gaudreau, Johnny’s brother. They hit it off in negotiations.
“I felt that we were going to be a destination for him, but I’m guessing so were other teams that were in on him,” Fitzgerald said. “We put our best foot forward.”
When Gaudreau said yes to Columbus, the Devils quickly inked Palat, who spent his first 10 seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Palat had sensed all season the Lightning were not going to re-sign him because of their salary cap restrictions, so he prepared himself and his family for that eventuality.
The Czech forward said the Lightning never
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