Minnesota Wild sign rookie goaltender Johan Gustafsson to entry-level contract -NHL Update
The Minnesota Wild added depth to their goaltending department by signing on board rookie level goalie, Johan Gustafsson to a three-year, entry-level contract on Thursday, May 31, 2012.
Gustafsson was picked up by the Wild as the 159th overall player during round-six of the 2010 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft after having played multiple seasons with various Swedish leagues.
The financial terms and conditions were not released by the Minnesota Wild as of yet.
Minnesota now has five picks from the 2010 NHL draft under contract with Gustafsson being the most recent. With the 20-year-old now backing up main Wild goalie, Niklas Backstrom, there is a raise in the possibility that Josh Harding might not be coming back
on the team after he becomes a free agent later on in July.
With Gustafsson now under an entry-level deal, there are two ways that this scenario may work out for the young goalie. Either he will impress the Minnesota management during the preseason to allow him to play in the regular hockey year or may be sent back
to play another year for Lulea in Sweden.
If the second scenario comes into play, it is most likely that he will be rejoining the Wild for the next season in 2013-2014.
Johan Gustafsson has maintained 1.68 goals-against average and .932 save percentage during his time with the Swedish Elite League this past season and also led them to win a gold medal in the 2012 world junior hockey championships.
Minnesota Wild had a great start to the 2011-2012 NHL regular season but as their goaltending weakened out as the year progressed, they lost their standing and eventually fell far below the playoff line.
With a number of new forwards on track to lead the team, Minnesota just needed to extend their defensive depth to the point of having multiple strong goalies working at one time. Niklas Backstrom is also believed to be in his final year, which was another
reason in Minnesota reacting to secure a younger goalie before a potential move from the veteran.
It will definitely be interesting to see how Gustafsson performs if given a chance next season.
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