Dater’s Daily: Gaudreau Columbus Signing Shocker, Chaos in Vegas

A good Thursday to all. Another scorcher in Denver on the way. Let’s do some NHL notes and links, starting with the continued aftershocks from the seismic blast that was yesterday’s Johnny Gaudreau signing in Columbus:

• All day long, we heard from “insiders” that it was down to the Islanders or the Devils to land Gaudreau’s services. Because, he wanted to “go home”, etc., etc., etc. Then, out of nowhere, came the news that Johnny Hockey was taking his talents to C-Bus. Here’s some of the shock and anger in his old city, Calgary, over that news. Flames fans are MAD.  (Calgary Hockey Now)
• “Family reasons”, it turns out, can mean different things. The fact is, Columbus, Ohio, is a very nice place to live. Yeah, a lot of players have wanted out from there too, but guys who live a long time there come away loving it.
• The Flyers are getting ripped by fans and media for not even making an offer for Gaudreau (Philly Hockey Now)
• The view from Washington on the Darcy Kuemper signing (Washington Hockey Now)
• The view from Seattle on the Andre Burakovsky signing (Seattle Times)
• The view from San Jose on Nico Sturm signing a three-year, $6 million deal with the Sharks (San Jose Hockey Now)
• In Pittsburgh, there is some grumbling among fans and media that the Penguins are trying to live in the past too much with some of their recent, long-term signings. But there may be some other deals in the works for Ron Hextall (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
• I think this is the situation with Jack Johnson: He has an offer on the table from the Avalanche, a one-year deal. But he’s mulling it over. He doesn’t want to be just a seventh or eighth guy on D. If he comes back, he wants to play. We’ll see where it goes.
• I hope JJ comes back. I think he had a really good season.
• What a purge yesterday by the Golden Knights. Talk about a team that mismanaged the salary cap. That team took a big step backward yesterday (Vegas Hockey Now)
• The new grilled cheese with tomato and pesto on Dunkin’? Mmmmm good.
• I thought the Detroit Red Wings had a very good free-agent frenzy day yesterday. Here’s the view from Motown (Detroit Hockey Now)
• Interesting, isn’t it, that Patrice Bergeron hasn’t re-signed yet with the Bruins? Maybe it’s just a formality, but some wonder (Boston Hockey Now)