The Edmonton Oilers hired Jonas Gustavsson this July to serve as Cam Talbot’s backup netminder. It was a curious hire, especially with Jhonas Enroth, Chad Johnson and Al Montoya, all better bets, littering the market. The move signals two things to me; that Edmonton values Laurent Brossoit highly and that the team thinks Talbot can carry the load.
Gustavsson is what he is at this stage of his NHL career, a journeyman backup with pedestrian at best statistics. This move has unnecessarily created another competition for the Oilers, one between a veteran goalie looking to hang on and a young gun looking to finally make the jump.
The Combatants:
As I mentioned above, Gustavsson signed a one-year deal on July 1st. The veteran hire is coming off of a shaky campaign in Boston where he played in 24 games and posted a record of 11-9-1. His numbers, a .908 SV% and 2.72 GAA, signify a below average season for the Swede. That said, his season went off the rails after the All-Star break when he battled an injury/illness.
Prior to 2015-16, Gustavsson posted seasons of .911 (seven games, 2014-15), .907 (27 games, 2013-14) and .879 (seven games, 2012-13) at the NHL level, all with Detroit. He has also mixed in AHL time, playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Laurent Brossoit, meanwhile, has shot up the depth chart since coming over from Calgary in a shocking trade in the fall of 2013. In 2014-15, Brossoit took over the AHL starting job thanks to injuries at the NHL level and posted a 25-22-4 record in 53 games. His .918 SV% wasn’t great, but it was a solid marker for the AHL rookie.
This past season, Brossoit was the man in Bakersfield, playing in 31 games for the club and going 18-9-3 with a .920 SV%. Before his post-deadline recall to Edmonton, Brossoit was one of the top goaltenders at the AHL level, signaling that he might be ready for the next step.
His NHL numbers of 0-4-0 with a .873 SV% in five tilts, however, raised some red flags. Brossoit’s last four outings were particularly bad performances.
Who Has The Inside Track?:
Brossoit is clearly the man of the future in Edmonton. The Oilers paid a heavy price at the time in Ladislav Smid and the team has taken it’s time developing him. Brossoit has played a full ECHL season (2013-14) and two AHL campaigns with a few NHL cups of coffee thus far. To me, that patience shows that Edmonton is confident in him.
Gustavsson, however, was hired by the current the GM and is an NHL veteran. Judging by the off-season moves made thus far, Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli might be more comfortable with a veteran team this season, not a young group like Oiler fans are used to.
At this stage, I’d say that Gustavsson has the inside track on Brossoit. While LB has a much higher ceiling, Gustavsson has proven he can handle the load as a backup while Brossoit simply has not to this point. Besides, more work in Bakersfield isn’t the worst thing in the world.
I’d give Gustavsson a 70% chance of winning this battle, while Brossoit has an outside shot at 30%.
Final Thoughts:
A lot of Oiler fans and writers were not happy with the Gustavsson signing when it happened on July 1st. I understand that there were better options, personally I wanted Jhonas Enroth, but I can at least see what Chiarelli is doing. Gustavsson is a below average backup but I don’t think he will kill you for one year.
While I believe he starts the season in Edmonton, I’d be stunned if he ended it with the Oilers. Laurent Brossoit is pushing and eventually the team needs to see what they have in LB. Another solid start in the AHL and it’s possible that Brossoit is with the big club come December.
Personally, the only reason I think Edmonton elected to go with Gustavsson is because the team was simply looking for a band-aid until Brossoit took the reigns. He’ll break camp with the big team and win the battle at hand, but it’s only a matter of time until the course reverses itself.
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