Posts Tagged Jonas Gustavsson
A Tribute To “Jiggy” From The Anaheim Ducks
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Rumors on February 1st, 2010
“We would like to sincerely thank Jean-Sebastien Giguere for the class, dignity and professionalism he showed on and off the ice during nine memorable seasons with the Ducks.
Among those countless memories are a Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003, a Stanley Cup championship in 2007 and a number of franchise goaltending records.
Best of luck in Toronto, Jiggy.
Sincerely,
The Anaheim Ducks “ (Source: NHL.com/Ducks)
This statement is a show of class from the Anahiem Ducks to JS Giguere posted on NHL.com. In the wake of trading him to the Toronto Maple leafs on Sunday for Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake, the Ducks reached out to show to Giguere to show their appreciation and respect for the goaltender who brought the Stanley Cup to California.
There has been mixed emotions from the people I’ve talked to about this trade but I think this is a move that will help the Leafs, and more pointedly Jonas Gustavsson, in the future.
”The Monster” has shown some potential to be a NHL #1 goaltender but he needs a mentor he can respect to show him the ropes, and at 32 Giguere still has some quality years left to help achieve this end.
Brian Burke has certainly rolled the dice on this one but if “Jiggy” can return to even 85% of his former abilities it will be a deal worth doing. The plan going into this season was for Toskala to return to form after off-season surgery, and be traded at the deadline. At that point, the plan was for Gustavsson to take over as the future of the franchise. The problem is that Toskala ha struggled mightily all season and Gustavsson clearly isn’t ready for the work load.
It is true that Giguere will eat up a lot of cap space ($6.5 mil cap hit) but in getting the Ducks to take Jason Blake’s contract ($4 mil cap hit), the loss is negligable really. If you view it as a $2.5 mil loss next year and Gustavsson developes into a true #1 starter under Giguere’s guidance, it a mearly a monetary loss, and it’s common knowledge that the Leafs have plenty of that.
It’s Time To Find Out About The “Monster”
Posted by Derek in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Opinion on January 26th, 2010
I’m not the first to say this but I would like to add my voice to the gathering masses that just want the Toronto Maple Leafs to let Jonas Gustavsson play for the remainder of the season.
It’s time to find out exactly what they have in “The Monster”, and decide if the flashes of greatness (or the flashes of mediocrity) are the real stick with which to measure the 25 year old NHL rookie. There have been moments when Gustavsson looked like he was on the brink of breaking out as a true #1 NHL goaltender, only to watch him allow a weak goal or over-read a play and end up committed to a shot while the opposing player passes for an easy tap in goal.
Personally, I prefer an aggressive goaltender like Gustavsson, who comes out to challenge a shooter. In my opinion this was the biggest problem for Vesa Toskala, sitting on the goal line and giving away the upper half of the net. It’s easier to make an aggressive player dial it back a bit then it is to make a passive one more aggressive, as we’ve seen with Toskala. Let’s face it, if we know what Toskala needed to do to be successful, so did Vesa but he was unable to change his game.
Gustavsson has had decent numbers on an under-achieving team but it really is time to see what he can do with a stretch of consecutive games to get comfortable. If it turns out he isn’t capable it would be far better to figure that out now, he will be a RFA after this season and will be looking for more then the $910 Thousand he signed for this year as an introductory contract.
His 2.94 GAA and .902 Save% is passable considering the supporting cast but it’s important to remember that a young goaltender can improve vastly playing on a bottom-feeder team like the Leafs, where he will see a lot of rubber every night. If you consider Roberto Luongo’s time in Florida he faced almost 2500 shot’s in 2003/04 and again in 2005/06 (consecutive season considering the lockout). This is when Luongo emerged as a premier NHL goaltender. I’m not saying that “The Monster” is the next Luongo, but it’s imperative for Brian Burke to know what he needs to do in net going into next season.
It’s time to throw Jonas in the pool and see if he’ll swim.
Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Rumors - Jan. 26th
Posted by Mark in NHL Free Agents, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on January 26th, 2010
Hand the No. 1 job to Gustavsson next season and sign a good backup from the list of free agents. Look for a veteran free agent who can act as a mentor to the 25-year-old Gustavsson and be capable of playing as many as 50 games if the youngster’s development still lags. Sign or trade for the best possible goaltender money and cap space can buy. Gustavsson can either back up and wait his turn or be traded for another asset.
One option that might present itself is that if the Florida Panthers are out of playoff contention, they might put Tomas Vokoun on the trade block. Vokoun has 1 year left at $5.7 million. There’s JS Giguere at $7 million ($6 million cap hit) for next year. Jonas Hiller is also a UFA at seasons end. Nashville has 2 UFA goalies in Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne, and they won’t be re-signing both. Other free agent goalies are Martin Biron (Isles), Chris Mason (Blues) and Marty Turco (Stars)
Around the Boards: Souray will waive ‘no-trade’ clause, Kovalchuk-Thrashers continue talks, Savard out 2-3 weeks
Posted by Mark in NHL Free Agents, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on January 9th, 2010
- Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal: Sheldon Souray has let it be known that he’d be willing to waive his ‘no-trade’ clause if it ‘makes sense’ for his family. His family is out in California, so if he gets traded, expect it to be to a west coast/conference team. Souray has 3 years left on his contract at $5.4 million cap hit. He’s making $5.5 mill this year, and $4.5 mill the next 2 seasons.
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Thrashers aren’t giving up on re-signing Ilya Kovalchuk.
On the ongoing contract talks with Ilya Kovalchuk, Waddell said: “Talks continue on. We met in Saskatoon (at the World Junior Championships). Our priority still remains to get him signed. We’ve made some progress but we are obviously not ready yet to put a signature on a contract.
“The positive thing is the talks have continued. They haven’t broken down. We talk almost daily. To me, that’s all part of the process. If talks break down because one side puts their shoes too far in the sand then you know you’re probably at an impasse. At this point, that hasn’t happened. Both sides continue to talk and try to find away to make this deal work.”
- Chris Zupke of the OC Register: Teemu Selanne expects to return to the Ducks lineup tonight. Changes could be coming for the Ducks if they continue to sit near the bottom of the Western Conference. JS Giguere, Scott Niedermayer, Saku Koivu, and Todd Marchant, could find themselves with another team before seasons end.
- Paul Hunt of the Toronto Star: Hunt lists some names who are unrestricted free agents this year that could be dealt at the trade deadline: Slava Kozlov, Colby Armstrong and Pavel Kubina (Atlanta), Saku Koivu (Anaheim), Paul Kariya (St. Louis), Ray Whitney, Matt Cullen (Carolina), Jeff Halpern, Antero Niittymaki and Alex Tanguay (Tampa), Martin Biron and Doug Weight (Islanders), Raffi Torres (Columbus), Steve Ott and Jere Lehtinen (Dallas), Alexei Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan, Lee Stempniak and Vesa Toskala (Toronto)
- Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun: The Maple Leafs are now allowed to negotiate with RFA Jonas Gustavsson, but have yet to do so. The Leafs don’t feel any pressure or urgency to get something worked out right away.
- Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald: Boston’s Marc Savard could be out for 2 to 3 weeks with a sprained knee. The Bruins were stayed healthy last season, the same can’t be said for this year.
Around the Boards: Dan Cloutier, Rick DiPietro rehabbing, Vokoun on the Block? The Monster hits the ice
Posted by Mark in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on December 12th, 2009
- Larry Brooks of the NY Post: Brooks thinks that Dan Cloutier could be a backup option for the NY Rangers. Cloutier has played part of 1 game in the AHL in an attempt to make an NHL comeback after missing the last 18 months from 2 hip surgeries. Should be start looking for Dan Blackburn number as well. If Cloutier is one of the better options, you need to look harder.
- Chris Botta of Fanhouse: Rick PiPietro stopped 13 of 14 shots before leaving in the 2nd period with some tightness. His next schedule minor league start is next Tuesday. I don’t see how the Islanders would be able to rely on DiPietro being healthy for an extended period of time.
- Chis Botta also reports that Tomas Vokoun is being shopped around the league. The Panthers signed Scott Clemmenson to 3 year deal in the off-season, and have top prospect Jacob Markstrom ready to make the jump to North America. Vokoun is under contract for next season at over $6 million. Moving Vokoun this season seems like a bit of strange idea (unless they are blown away by an offer) considering they are still in the playoff race, and in my opinion, must show the fans that they are trying to win. Losing their top 2 stars in 2 years doesn’t do much for fan relations.
- Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: Jonas Gustavsson return to the ice yesterday after his 2nd heart ablation surgery. Only a handful of Leafs were on the ice with him. He is slated to ready for game action sometime next week.
Around the Boards: Flyers fire Stevens … DiPietro returns, to minors … Gustavsson surgery and Kessel’s return to Boston
Posted by Mark in NHL Injuries, NHL News on December 5th, 2009
- Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News: The Philadelphia Flyers have fired head coach John Stevens and replaced him with Peter Laviolette. Laviolette last coached in Carolina and led them to the Stanley Cup Championship in 2006. Look for the Flyers scoring to increase a bit.
“Laviolette’s] more of an offensive coach. His teams play a real aggressive, pursue-the-puck type of game. I think that’s going to suit us real well.”
- Arthur Staple of Newsday: Rick DiPietro will be making his first start in almost a year today, albeit it in the AHL.
- Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Jonas Gustavsson second heart ablation surgery went well, and he’s expected to miss 7 to 10 days.
- Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Phil Kessel makes his return to Boston tonight, and I’m guessing it won’t be a friendly return.
Around the Boards: Savard’s cap friendly number, Sharp getting use to rumors, Corvo and Gustavsson injury news
Posted by Mark in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on December 2nd, 2009
- Kevin Paul Dupont and Brendan Hall of the Boston Globe: File this one under the heading ‘Hometown Discount’. Marc Savard signed a 7 year extension with the Bruins for $28.05 million, that’s a cap hit $4.007 million. Savard is expected to get $7 million for each of the first 2 seasons, with the remaining $14.05 spread out over the remaining 5 years. Will the NHL investigate this contract?
The deal’s annual payouts: $7 million, $7 million, $6.5 million, $5 million, $1.5 million, $525,000, and $525,000. Total: $28.05 million.
Viewed as a four-year deal, Savard will earn $25.5 million, for an average $6.375 million, with the Bruins assessed only $4.007 million on the cap.
- Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald: Patrick Sharp is starting to get use to hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors. He’d like to stay in Chicago but realizes it might not happen. Sassone says that most of the rumors are coming out of Toronto as the Leafs could use another offensive player. I think there would be 29 other teams who’d love to add a player of Sharp caliber.
- Javier Serna of the Raleigh News & Observer: Joe Corvo will out of the Hurricanes lineup for 8-12 weeks, after having surgery to repair a cut he suffered to the muscle that attaches to the achilles tendon. Corvo’s name was starting to creep in to trade rumors as the ‘Canes season is all but over.
- Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: Rostislav Klesla will be out for at least 6 weeks with a torn left groin and torn stomach muscle.
- Damien Cox of the Toronto Star: Jonas Gustavsson of the Maple Leafs left last nights game after the 1st period with an elevated heart rate. He was kept overnight in a hospital as a precaution. Gustavsson underwent a procedure during training camp to deal with an elevated heart rate. It’s not known how long Gustavsson will be out.
Around the Boards: Savard extension soon, Rangers-Habs talking? Keith odd man out?
Posted by Mark in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on November 16th, 2009
- Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe: The Bruins and Marc Savard are getting closer on a long term extension, in the $6-6.5 million range for 4 or 5 seasons.
- Stephan Harris of the Boston Herald: The Bruins are getting healthier, with Milan Lucic expected to return this week, and Marc Savard could be back next week.
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun:
- Jonas Gustavsson will be an RFA at the end of the season, and there might be teams that would sign him to a $5 million offer sheet. Burke can’t negotiate with ‘The Monster’ until January.
- The Predators are trying to unload RWer Ryan Jones and his $975,000 contract.
- The Rangers and Canadiens have had talks involving Sergei and Andrei Kostitsyn.
- The Oilers have inquired about Sergei Kostitsyn, a junior linemate of Sam Gagne.
- The Islanders will most likely trade Martin Biron once Rick DiPietro returns. The Kings or Sabres are possible destinations. I’d also think the Wings might be monitoring his play.
- Tim Sassone of the Daily Hearld: The Blackhawks could be looking to trade for a 2nd line center to replace the injured David Bolland (out 3-4 months with back injury). Patrick Sharp could be moved into that role if a trade can’t be worked out. Hurricanes’ Matt Cullen and his $2.875 cap hit might be a fit if Bolland was placed on LTIR.
- Jay Zawaski of Chicago Now: With Toews and Kane possibly close to signing contract extensions; if they sign with a hometown discount, they might be able to keep Duncan Keith. If they re-sign for fair market value, Keith is probably gone.
Phil Kessel Makes Maple Leafs Debut
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Videos on November 4th, 2009
Phil Kessel made his long-awaited and highly anticipated debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Maple Leafs have been competing better in recent games, looking like a much better team and showing some defensive aptitude with Jonas Gustavsson starting to emerge as the solid goaltender Brian Burke was hoping for.
Anyone who’s ever played hockey, or watched it for an extended period of time knows that a team will play completely different depending on the level of confidence they have in their goalie. There’s no worse feeling than that of knowing that any mistake you make has a great chance of ending up in the back of your net, and with the “Monster” bailing out his players from time to time you can see a big difference in the team defense with him in the crease.
That said, I would like to get back to Kessel for a minute here. For a guy who hasn’t played in 6 months and is recovering from shoulder surgery, he made an impact on the game playing 23:50 in the game with ten shots. (Wayne Primeau has 8 shot’s in 9 games, granted as a checking forward)
The problem for Kessel was predictable though. In one of our usual hockey chats yesterday, some friends and I figured with all the build-up for Kessel’s debut he would be pressured to try to make a difference right away, and therefore take an unnecessary risk, leaving himself open for a big hit. Guess what happened?
For those who missed it, here’s Mattias Ohlund welcoming Kessel back with open arms…
For the record, that was a classic, clean open-ice hit and I’m all for that. The problem I’m having is the lack of any response from Brian Burke’s “truculent” Leaf team. Where is all this “team toughness” Burke was selling all summer? What exactly is Colton Orr doing on the team anyway? Credit to Matt Stajan for the immediate response but this was the type of situation where a message needed to be sent. So what was stopping Orr from doing it? The Instigator Rule? Hmmmm…Who would you rather lose, Colton Orr to suspension or Phil Kessel to concussion?
To further the point, anyone who saw the overtime goal would’ve seen Ryan Malone slash the puck through Jonas Gustavsson as he was interfering with him in the process, another sign that the Lightning weren’t at all worried about the Leafs “team toughness”.
Let’s make one thing clear, Phil Kessel is the best chance the Leafs have of not giving up a 1st overall pick to Boston next season, with Gustavsson being the 2nd best chance, and the only true top 6 forward on that team. Is this not an investment worth protecting?
Around the Boards: Sun. Nov. 1st
Posted by Mark in NHL News, NHL Rumors on November 1st, 2009
- Jay Zawaski of Chicago Now: Marian Hossa has started skating with the Blackhawks, but is not expected to return until the end of November. They are also not going to rush Toews back.
- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: The play of James van Riemsdyk and Matt Carle has moved them both into consideration for US Olympic team according Brian Burke.
- Scott Morrison of CBCSports.ca: The Detroit Red Wings might be starting to look at trading for a goalie as they don’t appear to be that happy with the play of both Chris Osgood and Jimmy Howard.
- James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail: The Maple Leafs top 2 goalies appear to be back healthy for the moment, but how they will fair remains to be seen. According to Burke, “If one of [Gustavsson or Toskala] doesn’t emerge as the guy or both of them, if they can’t emerge as a tandem, then we’re going to have to go look for a goaltender. We can’t fix the goaltending situation until we figure out what we have.”
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