Sitting as a free agent all summer, goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has opted to take the Boston Bruins offer of a training camp try-out, agreeing to a PTO with the team, according to Hockey Night in Canada and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Was wondering if TB might look at FA Jonas Gustavsson, but hearing he will go to BOS camp on a tryout.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 4, 2015
General Fanager has received confirmation Jonas Gustavsson has signed a PTO with Boston #NHLBruins as per earlier @FriedgeHNIC report
— General Fanager (@generalfanager) September 4, 2015
Gustavsson has underwhelmed at the NHL level since being named the best player in Swedish hockey back in 2009, when he had the best save percentage (.932) and goals against average (1.96) in the Swedish Elite League.
The undrafted free agent signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2009, hoping to steal the starting job from incumbent Vesa Toskala. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to put it all together in Toronto, largely due to potentially dangerous heart problems that plagued him early in his career.
He got a second chance in Detroit in 2012-13 when he was brought aboard to back-up Jimmy Howard. While injuries would again derail Gustavsson’s time in Detroit (he played only seven games in two of his three seasons with the Wings), he would see his numbers improve, as he set career bests in both save percentage and goals against average in consecutive seasons, albeit in very limited action. With Petr Mrazek coming of age, there is no longer room for Gustavsson in the Red Wings organization.
At this point, “The Monster” will have to beat out top prospect Malcolm Subban, and Jeremy Smith to take the job backing up Tuukka Rask. If he doesn’t make the team, he could also head back to Sweden looking for a job at the conclusion of the Bruins training camp.
Main Photo via Getty Images.
