Columbus Blue Jackets player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, have died, the team announced Friday morning on X.
Gaudreau, who was born in Salem, N.J.., played for the Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames across 11 seasons in the NHL. Last season, he appeared in 81 games and tallied 48 points.
He leaves behind his wife Meredith, and two children Noa, 1, and Johnny, 6 months.
The tragedy struck one day before the Gaudreau brothers were set to take part as groomsmen in their sister Katie’s wedding to hockey player Devin Joyce in Gloucester City, N.J.
Gaudreau grew up in Oldsman Township in New Jersey outside of Philadelphia and later attended Boston College, where he was named the Hobey Baker Award winner — college hockey’s highest individual award — in 2014.
The Flames selected Gaudreau in the fourth round during the 2011 NHL Draft.
Gaudreau was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s top rookie, and appeared in the All-Star game seven times throughout his career.
“My focus was never squarely on making it to the NHL,” Gaudreau said in a 2016 Players Tribune essay. “I always just tried to advance to the next level, one rung at a time. It’s important to take it slow, because if you immediately try to compare your game to the guys playing in the league, you’re going to get down on yourself pretty quick.
“I’ll never forget my first development camp with the Flames. I was just a college kid in every sense. And I saw these NHL players out there on the ice, and all I could think was, “What am I doing here?” I was so wide-eyed, I almost wanted to ask for autographs.
“Then the next development camp a year later, my attitude shifted to, “I think I know what I’m doing here.” Until finally I got to the point where I was on the ice with NHL players and felt okay telling myself, “I know what I’m doing here.”
Like his brother, Matthew played hockey at Boston College before he signed with the New York Islanders’ minor league affiliate in 2017. He last played professional hockey in 2021, playing in Sweden and the ECHL in the US.
The Blue Jackets suffered another tragedy in 2021 when goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks, 24, died of chest trauma from being struck by an errant fireworks mortar during a party at a private Michigan home.
Kivlenieks was in a hot tub and tried to escape the oncoming firework, which had tilted slightly and fired toward a group of people.