UPDATE: Johnny Gaudreau died in a bicycle accident on Aug. 29, 2024. The above videos reflect that coverage.

Jarmo Kekalainen’s skin began to boil three years ago.

Lighting the flame was a growing narrative about Columbus and the Blue Jackets that rubbed the Jackets' general manager the wrong way. After four free agents headed off to find new NHL teams in July 2019, most notably forward Artemi Panarin, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and center Matt Duchene, the Blue Jackets who remained were pelted with put-downs.

Just a couple months after sweeping the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning out of the playoffs, the Blue Jackets and the Columbus market took a beating.

“See, nobody wants to play in Columbus. It's a bad hockey market. Fans don't care. Do they even have running water? Electricity?”

Here's some background information on the “mass hockey exodus” from Columbus in 2019, which came out in the three year since it happened:

— The Blue Jackets decided not to meet Bobrovsky’s asking price of $10 million a year on a long-term deal at age 30, which he got from the Florida Panthers. The Jackets essentially let him walk.

— The Blue Jackets’ front office also knew Panarin’s wanderlust for New York was too much to overcome, but it didn’t stop Kekalainen from throwing out serious dough to “The Breadman,” with a last-ditch offer that would've paid him $12 million a year for eight years. He still left for the Rangers.

— Duchene enjoyed his brief stay in Columbus as a rental center, but the Jackets weren’t comfortable with the $8 million annual salary he eventually received in Nashville, where he already had a home under construction. Duchene, a county music buff who plays guitar and sings, was one foot out the door toward the Music City before he even arrived in Columbus.

— Ryan Dzingel is also mentioned with the other three, but he wore out his welcome quickly with the Blue Jackets and wasn’t extended an offer to stay.

Four departures. Four different reasons.

None registered as valid to anybody outside Central Ohio, though, so the narrative grew despite numerous Blue Jackets players and coaches — past and present —saying it simply wasn’t true. Kekalainen was among those who defended Columbus and the Blue Jackets, going so far as to narrate a promotional video about what it means to be a Blue Jacket.

Words, however, carry only so much weight. Actions have more impact.

So, the Jackets' front office began wielding contract signings like a sledgehammer.

Using a portion of the money Panarin declined, Kekalainen signed Gustav Nyquist as an unrestricted free agent in 2019. He also inked Oliver Bjorkstrand the following season, and reached multi-year deals with captain Boone Jenner, star defenseman Zach Werenski and goalie Elvis Merzlikins last summer.

Sean Kuraly also returned to his home market last summer as a UFA center and Jack Roslovic just signed his second contract with his hometown Blue Jackets after coming back in a 2021 trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to Winnipeg.

Patrik Laine was the big fish in that deal for Columbus and Kekalainen is now trying to get his signature on a multi-year extension.

The puzzle pieces are falling into place, one after another, and Kekalainen added a cornerstone Wednesday by signing superstar Johnny Gaudreau to a seven-year, $68.25 million contract.

The news stunned the NHL ecosphere. Gaudreau made it sound like it was a no-brainer.

"I've gotten to play here many times and any time I play here, it's a lot of fun to play here," Gaudreau said Thursday at Nationwide Arena. "The fans are into it and they've got a lot of buzz there in the arena, so I was really excited about that. They've got a good young group here. I think that attracted me a little bit too, and me and my wife thought it was a really good fit for us. ... It just made the most sense."

Seated next to him, Kekalainen couldn't contain a smirk.

Rather than belaboring a verbal defense of his Blue Jackets and their fair city, Kekalainen has used ample salary-cap space to send a message that finally got through to the rest of the NHL when Gaudreau picked the Jackets over the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.

The message is a three-parter.

Yes, Columbus is a place that can attract star players. Yes, the Blue Jackets can be a team that pursues the Stanley Cup. No, living in Columbus and playing for the Jackets aren't akin to serving a prison sentence at Sing Sing.

Those sentiments, as much as Gaudreau’s jaw-dropping skill or stats, were important for the Blue Jackets to emphasize. It helps combat what's become a tired, old saw that has tormented this team and town for a long time.

“I made a comment (Wednesday) that I get a rash every time I hear the negative comments about Columbus,” Kekalainen said. “It’s so unfair, because we have a great organization, we have a great city, we have an unbelievable facility that will be even better (after renovations) this summer. I would put it against anybody’s facility in the league, no doubt about it. And that unfair perception somehow becomes truth, which … it is not.”

Gaudreau began to change that perception just by picking the Blue Jackets and leaving his former team, the Flames, holding a huge wad of cash (albeit Canadian).

If any of the Flames' peers know that feeling, it’s the Blue Jackets.

"Sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it," Kekalainen said. "And I’m not going to go back to talking about players leaving in 2019. Sometimes players leave, people think they left, but the reality is that we didn’t even offer a contract. But we don’t talk about that because it would not be professional. That’s the way I’m going to keep it in the future, too, but Columbus is a great city. We have a great organization, we have a great head coach, we have a good team and we’re going to keep getting better.”

He could’ve stopped there.

Instead, Kekalainen delivered one final salvo about his team's desire to win and gain more respect. He highlighted the Jackets' bankrollers.

"I’d like to thank our ownership," Kekalainen said, referring to a family fronted by majority owner John P. McConnell, whose father, John H. McConnell, was the biggest reason the Blue Jackets even came to be. "I feel privileged to work for the McConnell family. They’re committed to winning and that’s the most important thing for a general manager, to have ownership like that … and for the whole team, the whole management group and our players, to see that the ownership’s committed to winning. They want to win the Stanley Cup. They want to bring the Stanley Cup to Columbus.”

Message sent.

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets sent NHL a message signing Johnny Gaudreau