Not sure if you’re aware but August is almost over.
According to a reliable source on another site I recently heard about (seriously, this guy has the best content), September is just a week away.
And with Training Camps just around the corner and a regular season opener about 1200 hours away, there’s still some unfinished business in the Nation’s Capital. All of the business actually.
That includes new contracts for a handful of RFAs.
Brady Tkachuk is obviously at the top of that list. Drake Batherson’s contract is an important one too. Plus, they still have to figure out what the hell to do with Logan Brown.
While those three take up the majority of the conversation these days, there’s one other restricted free agent still waiting for a new contract that tends to get lost in the shuffle.
Filip Gustavsson. The Goose. Filip GOATavsson. Filly Franchise.
You remember him, don’t you? A 2nd round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Filip Gustavsson was the primary piece coming back to Ottawa in the trade that sent Derrick Brassard to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The now 23-year old Gustavsson is entering what will be his fifth year in the Sens organization. Like many European goalies, Gustavsson initially struggled with the transition to the North American game and his early numbers in the American Hockey League indicate as much. Two years with a sub-.890 save percentage is certainly not hitting the ground running.
And with some other talented young goalies in the system, it seemed like Gustavsson was at risk of sliding down the organizational depth chart a little bit.
That all changed pretty quickly last season.
With injuries piling up, Gustavsson was thrown into the fire at the NHL level and while the sample size is still pretty small, he showed that he may be close to NHL-ready. His AHL numbers never really jumped off the page but he certainly made the most of an unexpected opportunity with the big team.
In nine games, Gustavsson posted an impressive 5-1-2 record including a .932 sv% and a 2.16 GAA.
And now with Joey Daccord off to Seattle, Gustavsson has pretty quickly become the closest thing the Senators have to a young/NHL-ready goalie. There are some interesting options in Mads Søgaard , Leevi Meriläinen and Kevin Mandolese waiting in the wings but Gustavsson is obviously further long in his development than the rest of them.
Which is where his contract gets a little tricky.
The Ottawa Senators have two goalies locked in to one-way contracts in Matt Murray and Anton Forsberg. And barring a training camp surprise (or injury), those two will start the year on the NHL roster.
It’s likely the Senators have Gustavsson pegged for the starting job in Belleville this fall but for a goalie that already has had a taste of NHL action, he may not love the idea of riding buses for another year in the AHL. Maybe there’s an offer from a European team he’s considering?
We know he received a qualifying offer back in July but outside of a “there have been talks”, we haven’t heard much.
Whatever the hold up is, it’s safe to say this particular contract wasn’t really on the radar of fans heading into the off-season. But now, with the start of a new season only a few months away many are asking, “What about Filip Gustavsson?”
Okay, maybe only The Goose and I are asking that question. Just trying to shake off the summer rust here, folks.
1200 hours till game time.
-Pierre McGuire made an appearance on TSN 1200 this afternoon. Usually, such an occurrence wouldn’t be noteworthy except now that Pierre McGuire works for the Ottawa Senators (sorry, still getting used to that), it’s a rare window into what the organization has been up to during this unusually quiet stretch. Based on the interview, uhh nothing in particular. McGuire spoke at length about where he has been sleeping (on the floor), who he’s most excited about on the Sens roster (everyone) and about what he can say about the Brady Tkachuk negotiations (nothing). You can listen to the full interview here.
