Filip Gustavsson signed a 3-year contract with the Minnesota Wild earlier this week. The deal gives Gustavsson $11.25 million over the span of three years. Until this signing, the 25 year old from Skelleftea, Sweden was a restricted free agent for Minnesota.
Filip Gustavsson is entering his 4th season in the NHL. The goalkeeper has an overall record of 32-22-10, and a total of 60 starts. Last year in Minnesota, Gustavsson started 37 games and went 22-9-7. Between the pipes for the Wild, Gustavsson had a 2.10 goals against average, and a save percentage of .931 as well. Gustavsson also saw his first NHL playoff action this season. In the opening round of the playoffs, Gustavsson went 2-3 in his starts against the Dallas Stars. Over those five games, Gustavsson averaged 2.33 goals against and had a .921 save percentage. Most notably, Gustavsson won Game 1 of the series for the Wild on the road in the American Airlines Center, in double overtime.
The Minnesota Wild last season split starting time between Filip Gustavsson and 3 time Stanley Cup winning goaltender, Marc-André Fleury. The duo helped Minnesota to a 46-25-11 record, placing them 3rd overall in the Central Division. Fleury will be entering the last year of his contract with the Wild this season. In the mean time, Gustavsson hopes he can prove himself to be a true starting goalie in the next few years. Gustavsson said in an interview, “In three years, I hope to be the No. 1, and be really the outspoken No. 1 and play most of the games and hopefully sign another deal, a longer deal in the NHL.”
Filip Gustavsson and the Minnesota Wild were scheduled for a salary arbitration hearing this later this week. However, now that the deal is done, both parties are excited for the future. After signing, Gustavsson said that this three year deal, “feels like a little more pressure off my shoulders to know that I have a job for the next three years, and I’m so excited to do it with Minnesota again. I was enjoying it so much last year and we had so much fun. …I’m very excited to doing that again.” Minnesota’s General Manager, Bill Guerin, said that, “Filip had a career year last year. He’s well deserving of this contract, and we’re very happy with it. I think both sides worked to find a common ground, and like I said, he had a career year last year.”
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