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If you were to compile a list of possible destinations where Johnny Gaudreau was going to end up this summer, you’d have to put Calgary at the top.

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But when it was reported Tuesday that the 28-year-old, who is expecting a child with his wife, wanted to be close to his family, suddenly New Jersey and Philadelphia became the clear favorites. And if not them, then somewhere close to home, like Long Island. And then, out of nowhere, did he pick Columbus?

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Ohio, which is about an eight-hour drive and two states away from Salem, NJ, is considered close to home? Or was it about something else? It certainly wasn’t about the money, with Gaudreau surprising everyone by leaving cash on the table and signing a seven-year, $68.25 million contract with the Blue Jackets. The $9.75 million he’ll make next season is far less than the $10.5 million Calgary reportedly offered last time — especially considering the Flames’ offer included an eighth year.

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So Gaudreau turned down $15.75 million to play in Columbus rather than Calgary. And maybe more had gone to the Devils or the Islanders. How strange. Aside from the money, the contract is even more complicated when you consider what else he turned down. A chance to play in a city where he was treated as a superstar. A chance to play on a team that finished first in the Pacific division last year. A chance to continue playing alongside Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm on the best line in hockey last season. Good luck finding any of that with the Blue Jackets, an uncapped team in a college football town that lacks a No. 1 center and has spent its existence as a bubble team at best. That last part should change with the addition of Gaudreau, though don’t be so sure.

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A big reason why Gaudreau enjoyed his career last season, scoring 40 goals and tied for second overall with 115 points, came from his surroundings. Calgary was a deep offensive team. The line he played on was incredibly deep, with Tkachuk and Lindholm each scoring 42 goals and the trio combining for 300 points. Last season, no one on the Blue Jackets had more than 28 goals. Their top scorer finished with 62 points. Still, Gaudreau — along with former Flames defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who signed a four-year deal — makes the Blue Jackets better. But it doesn’t make them a playoff team. Not yet, anyway. This is a team that finished 10th in the East last season, missing out on the last wild card spot by 19 points.

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That’s a lot of ground to make up. Especially for a young team that had spent the last two years in a new gear or a rebuild or whatever you want to call it. Columbus, which has Patrik Laine and Jakub Voracek and Zach Werenski, also has five players under the age of 23. This year, the Blue Jackets had the No. 5 and No. 12 picks in the draft. A year ago, they had three first-round picks. Their time was not now. Like Detroit or Ottawa, it was probably a year or two from now. But on a day when people who haven’t gotten aggressive, with the Red Wings adding Andrew Copp, David Perron, Dominik Kubalik and Ben Chiarot and the Senators signing Claude Giroux after previously trading for Alex DeBrincat and Cam Talbot, the landscape in the East. has changed rapidly.

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And it changed in a way that no one saw. What does Gaudreau see in Columbus? It’s a question he’ll be asked a lot in the coming days. He couldn’t count on the chance to play with No. 1 center Jack Roslovic, someone who has never scored more than 45 points. Nor could he be relied upon to play with Laine, since both are lefties. He can’t rely on coach Brad Larsen, who has only been on the job a year. He left Calgary, where he could put up 100 points again for a playoff-definite team, so? Or a chance to play in New Jersey with two recent No. 1 picks who are both centers? Or the New York Islanders, where he would look great on a line with Mathew Barzal for a team that went to the conference finals two of the last three years?

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Why; What are we missing here? What does he see that none of us see? Perhaps it was sold for the future of Columbus. Perhaps he sees the team trading Laine, a restricted free agent who hasn’t been a good fit thus far, for someone who can get past Gaudreau. Maybe he sees something in these options and prospects that was worth investing in, worth getting in on the ground level with. Maybe he believes in GM Jarmo Kekalainen, who after years of big play finally got a star player to agree to play in Columbus, and his vision for the future. Perhaps the question is not what did he see in Columbus, but what did he not see in Calgary? Or New Jersey, Philadelphia or the New York Islanders? It’s a question that many Brad Treliving and several other GMs have to ask themselves right now.

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