Signed to a four-year contract that will pay him $16 million, new Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson recently sat down with Pat Steinberg and Logan Gordon of Sportsnet's Flames Talk Podcast to discuss the process and the reasoning behind joining the Blue Jackets.
Since signing a three-year, $12 million dollar contract with the Vancouver Canucks in February of 2018, Gudbranson has bounced around the league as much as any other player. He was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the middle of the first year of that contract, and the Penguins traded him to the Anaheim Ducks in the following season.
After 44 games with the Ducks, the defenseman moved on to the Ottawa Senators, where he would play just 36 games before being moved again — this time to the Nashville Predators, where he would spend a fraction (nine games) of the time.
Enter: Calgary. Gudbranson signed a one-year, $1.95M contract with the Flames in September of 2021. In speaking with Flames Talk, the 30-year-old defenseman credits the Flames to getting him to where he today.
"They gave me an opportunity to get my game to where it is and get it back and get my confidence back," said Gudbranson.
The 6'5", 225lb blueliner had a career-high 78 games played in his lone year with the Flames, setting career highs in both goals (six) and assists (11). He was a +15 for the season and averaged just over 18 minutes of ice time per game on a Flames team that had Stanley Cup aspirations before being bounced in the second round by the Edmonton Oilers.
While appreciative of what the Flames gave him, the Blue Jackets were willing to provide him with something that Flames could not: consistency.
"My family and I moved around so many times in the past few years that the extra year (in Columbus) was a big plus and a selling feature, for sure," Gudbranson told the podcast, confirming that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen's willingness to extend the length of the contract may have sealed the deal for his arrival.
"I felt really comfortable based on my convos with them (Kekalainen and head coach Brad Larsen) and I'm very, very excited to be a Blue Jacket."
And as for whether or not Gudbranson knew that he would soon be joined by former-now-current teammate Johnny Gaudreau?
He denies knowing anything about it.
"I'm really happy he's here with us, for sure. He's a hell of a hockey player and a really good teammate, but I had no idea," said Gudbranson.
He does acknowledge, however, that there is a good relationship between the two. "We got pretty close over the year," said Gudbranson. "We ended up spending a lot of one-on-one time together," he said, adding that they very often side-by-side on road trips as a result of their last names being close alphabetically.
It also helps that the pair's significant others are close, too. With Gaudreau and wife Meredith expecting their first child shortly and Gudbranson and his wife, Sarah, expecting their second any day now, the four can relate to each other in ways that not everyone else can.
"Our wives are really close; similar stages of life. He's (Gaudreau) expecting his first, we're expecting our second," said Gudbranson.
Joining Columbus is more than just a paycheck — it's an opportunity to win.
That's not lost on Gudbranson.
"(Columbus has) really talented young players, and there's a lot of excitement around the city about what's to come with these young guys, and the guys that are currently here and a little bit older," he said.
As for his relationship with guys on the team outside of Gaudreau? He's already started the process of getting to know his new teammates.
"I've skated with them a few times. A handful of guys are here now and it's good to get to know them and start the process of getting to know everybody and getting comfortable."
