Jonas Gustavsson: Signed by Bruins

Jonas Gustavsson has inked himself a one year deal worth $700,000 with the Boston Bruins, reports by NHL.com via the Canadian Press.

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He essentially beat out Jeremy Smith for the backup role after coming into training camp on a professional tryout offer. Gustavsson steps in to assume the backup role behind elite Finnish netminder Tuukka Rask.

Jonas Gustavsson will be 31 at the end of the month. He’s got six years of NHL experience under his belt now after spending his first three seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the last three with the Detroit Red Wings.

In 2009-10, during his rookie season Gustavsson played 42 games for the Maple Leafs gathering a 2.87GAA and .902 save %.

During the 2010-11 season, he played 23 games for the Maple Leafs tallying a 3.29GAA and .890 save %.

His final year with the Leafs in 2011-2012, he appeared in 42 games for Toronto. Over that span his numbers were 2.92GAA and .902 save %.

Sep 30, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Jonas Gustavsson (89) during the second period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

During the lockout shortened season in 2012-13, he eventually found a home backing up Jimmy Howard in Detroit. He only appeared in 7 games putting up a 2.92GAA and .879 save %.

In 2013-14 Jonas Gustavsson appeared in 27 games for the Red Wings. He put up career highs at the time with a 2.63GAA and .907 save %.

Last season, in 2014-15 He only appeared in 7 games. The emergence of Petr Mrazek eventually pushed Jonas Gustavsson out the door. He did see improvements again in his numbers with a 2.56GAA and .911 save %.

Gustavsson never did meet the hype that was set when he first came over from Sweden. His numbers were off the chart across the pond, but it seems he’s somewhat struggled with the North American game.

He walks into a great scenario in Boston. It’s obvious that he is clearly not a starter. At best, he’s a pretty good backup. We also know he can’t carry a team for any extended period of time due to injury.

But that won’t be an issue in Boston. Malcolm Subban is knocking at the door to play with the big club so Jonas Gustavsson only needs to worry about being a dependable number two.

It’s a bit unclear what the Bruins defense is going to look like since the departure of Dougie Hamilton. But beginning the season without Dennis Seidenberg is a tough way to kick things off. But even with the losses, I wonder if Jonas Gustavsson is being treated to the best defensive team he’s ever had in front of him?

Were the Red Wings teams he played for stronger defensively (including both forwards and defenseman)? What should be realistically expect from Jonas Gustavsson this season?

What kind of numbers will he produce? And will he do enough to earn another contract, either in Boston or with another NHL team?

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