NHL writer sorry for claiming death of Johnny Gaudreau helps Blue Jackets in draft lottery

Hockey writer Frank Seravalli is apologizing for what he calls a "poor choice of words" regarding the death of Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau .

The president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and insider for The Daily Faceoff wrote in a series of preseason predictions that: "With a little help from Gaudreau, the Columbus Blue Jackets will win the 2025 Draft Lottery. It's the only consolation prize on a brutal year."

Seravalli had linked to the story on social media promising to make a fool of himself, although this was undoubtedly not what he had in mind.

Naturally, the implication that Gaudreau's death had any upside upset many hockey fans and Seravalli edited the piece twice, eventually striking the offending line entirely. It now reads: "The Columbus Blue Jacketswill win the 2025 Draft Lottery. It’s the only consolation prize on a brutal year, but hope and help is on the way. Bananas that the Blue Jackets have never won the Lottery."

The story also includes an editor's note that argues the remark's original intent had been to honor Gaudreau's impact, not offend.

Editor’s note: ... A prediction about the Columbus Blue Jackets winning the draft lottery, has been amended to remove a comment about the late Johnny Gaudreau looking down on the team from heaven. The intent was to honor Gaudreau and not offend. The wording was chosen poorly. Daily Faceoff regrets the error and apologizes to anyone hurt by the comment.

Seravalli, a former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, additionally issued a personal apology saying, "Especially as a member of the Philly hockey community , I’ve been absolutely gutted by John and Matty’s passing - like so many around the hockey world. This tragedy is a difficult topic we’re all grappling with and what I wrote was never intended to add to that."

Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew died after they were struck by a man who has since been charged with drunk driving . The brothers were bicycling in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, close to their hometown in Salem County, at the time.

Get more Columbus Blue Jackets talk on the Cannon Fodder podcast

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: NHL writer sorry for claiming death of Johnny Gaudreau helps Blue Jackets in draft lottery