Toronto Maple Leafs

Could Leafs Sign Jonas Gustavsson?

Apparently Leafs goal tending coach Corey Hirsch might have some value afterall.  His fame in Sweden, which apparently has nothing to do with his time playing for Malmo or Timra - and everything to do with giving up a shoot out goal to Peter Forsberg in the shootout, may play into the hands of Brian Burke finding a starting goalie of the future.

Jonas Gustavsson finished this past season in the Swedish Elite League as the top netminder. He had the league’s top GAA at 1.96 (The next closest was 2.15), he had the league’s top SV% at .932 (the next closest was .922 posted by Anaheim Ducks prospect Mattias Modig).  Gustavsson is the first goalie to post a sub 2.00 GAA in Sweden since 2005-06.

He’s 24 years old, he’s 6′3″ and 181 lbs, and he won the championship with Färjestad this season.  This was his first season as a full starter, and he still only played in 42 games, but his size, and mobility lead NHL teams to believe he might be able to connect the dots across the pond.

While many have been comparing him to his countryman Henrik Lundqvist, I don’t personally know if the comparison bears much weight.  The thing about Lundqvist is, he was stellar in the SEL for two consecutive seasons at the ages of 21 and 22 as a starter for Frölunda.  He was dominant as a backup when he was 20, with a 1.45 GAA and .948 SV%.  He also lit up the world stage as an international, playing 56 games for the National Program at the U-18, U-20, and Men’s levels prior to playing in the NHL.

Gustavsson by comparison has had one dominant season (this past year) and has only ever played 1 game internationally (in which he gave up 4 goals and posted an .840 SV%).  Prior to this season, Gustavsson’s best numbers came at the U-18 level.  He has been improving steadily, but at this point he may still be just a “flash in the pan” type player.

Lundqvist was being named the best goalie at the World Championships in 2003-04 before he ever suited up for the NY Rangers.  He was the SEL MVP and Player of the Year in 2004-05, and he was the goalie of the year 3 seasons in a row from 2002-03 through 2004-05.  He was even the Swedish Junior Hockey player of the year in 2001-02.  I honestly don’t think Gustavsson has anything close to the same pedigree, so if the Leafs DO sign him, fans should temper their expectations a bit.

Another comparison that might be made is to Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild, who did play in the SEL for AIK for one season, before returning to the Finnish SM-Liiga to play for Karpat for 4 seasons before entering the NHL.  He was subpar in the SEL, but he dominated the SM-Liiga for 4 seasons, being named the Finnish league’s top goalie in 2003-04, and 2004-05 en route to winning the league championship in both those seasons.  The irony is Backstrom’s best season was in 2005-06 and he didn’t win the best goalie award that year.  His backup was Pekka Rinne, another large Finnish netminder that’s making an impact in the NHL this season.

Any way you slice it, Gustavsson has a limited exposure at the top levels of European Hockey, and entering the microscope of Toronto might be a bit of a blow to his confidence should he waver at all under the pressure.  His level of play this past season was top notch, and if this YouTube posting is any indication his lateral movement and the length of his legs make cross crease attempts less concerning than they were against Toskala this season.  Hopefully the Leafs can work something out, but hopefully the levels of expectation heaped on the kid aren’t ridiculous either.

He is apparently being pursued by both the Leafs, having been contacted by the aforementioned Corey Hirsch, and the Dallas Stars - according to Swedish sports news outlet Afondblet (note, this is the same organization that prematurely broke the news on Sundin signing with the Canucks - which eventually happened anyway).  Dallas is apparently interested since they think Marty Turco might retire soon - which is a tad odd since he’s only 34 and frankly that’s not that old for goalies in the NHL.  Brodeur is 3 years older, Joseph is still playing at 42, Khabibulin is 2 years older… who knew Turco was contemplating leaving the game?  Apparently the Swedes have the inside track?