Defenseman expands on why he chose to exclude Canadian markets in free agency

Per a report a couple of short weeks back, teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers were all believed to have submitted offers to Gudas in free agency. However, Gudas admitted he wasn't overly interested in playing in Canada due, at least in part, to the increased media attention.

Gudas has elaborated on his decision to exclude Canadian teams from his wish list, telling iSport this week that the media wasn't the only reason he was as turned off by Canada. He revealed that taxes in Canada played an enormous role in his not wanting to play north of the border.

To be fair to Gudas, he also revealed that he preferred the weather in Anaheim and the opportunity they could offer him within their lineup, which was more preferable than both Calgary and Edmonton.

Obviously, it would appear as though Toronto was the lowest on his list of cities in consideration, as he mentioned both Edmonton and Calgary in relation to not only climate, but team role. Of course, we know that Toronto is a hockey hot bed, and given what we already knew about Gudas preferring to keep a lower profile, it would make sense that he would have excluded the Leafs almost immediately.