Prospect Info: (C) David Gustafsson (2018, 60th overall pick)

[Scheifele55]

If a 19 year old David Gustafsson is considered an upgrade over a 34 Mark Letestu I am more than happy. Gustafsson has 10 years of development ahead of him.

 

[LowLefty]

Love this guys puck pursuit and he doesn't seem to have any issues with the small ice or the NA style game.
Not sure what the plans are for him TY but I look forward to watching him more.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Regarding his ELc don’t think it matters as much as at his prime he won’t be able to command the big dollars Heinola will.

 

[Whileee]

Regarding his ELc don’t think it matters as much as at his prime he won’t be able to command the big dollars Heinola will.

Agree. In some ways it's better to have him come off his ELC a year earlier. If anything, it might diminish the cost of his second contract.

 

[AKAChip]

I really like his game. To be so strong and to have such a good stick at his age is rare. It’s annoying he will rarely see more than five minutes a night with the way Maurice deploys his lines but I’m very pleased with his play.

 

[Wings4Life]

Guys just wanted to say he looks like a very big boy who belongs in the show! What a great 2nd round pick, jack of all trades type of player with some underrated skill.

Will he be kept up after the 9 game mark, or will they send him down?

 

[Jet]

He actually reminds me quite a bit of Eriksson-Ek in his first season, except the Wild didn't have the top end talent to shelter him, through his first season, so he played in some tougher matchups.

With Letestu out, Suess struggling in his first pro game, and no real depth down the lineup (Spacek doesn't have the defensive awareness), I think he sticks it out. Perreault-Gustafsson-Bourque is a strong enough 4th line to play at the NHL level (in that 6-9 minute comfort zone). Gustafsson has the smarts to play in the NHL. Thing we saw when those two wingers were forced up the lineup, is that the talent is thin at forward. The injured Appleton is good enough to stick, but not breaking the door down. It would be nice for Luoto or Chibisov to make the leap, not sure who else on the Moose is really knocking on the door. Maybe Suess does better in his 2nd game. Vesalainen needs to push his way onto the team.

I think optimally if you want to manage Scheifele's ice time, you might look at a guy who can take draws on the PK, behind Lowry and Little (Copp is usually first unit). But it's far from a crisis now. I want to see the Gustafsson get his 1st NHL goal on the homestand, he was in the right place yesterday, but the hands were a little slow.

I thought that line was pretty good in the Vegas game though they got hemmed a couple of times

 

[ps241]

He has the size and defensive game to stick on a depleted roster.


Hopefully the team sends him down to play 18 minutes a night in a more offensive role? My concern is not about his ELC but more if he gets jammed up on our 4th line/PB. I would worry about any 19 year old prospect placed in that situation.

This is a big development season I hope we don't miss the window.

 

[JetsFan815]

I am sure Gustafsson doesn't mind getting the NHL paycheques but what the Jets management/coaching are doing to him seems to be bordering on malpractice. Of all the players in the NHL only 2 players average less icetime per game than Gustafsson (Jayson Megna and Scott Sabourin). I am not sure what the logic behind confining a 19 yr old just 1 year removed from his draft into a 6 mins a night 4th line role playing with guys like Borque, Luoto, Shaw and company is. It does not seem like a situation to set him up for long term success.

They have enough guys in them minors to play that 4th line role and if they don't have faith in them pick up someone from the waivers. Gus should be allowed to play decent minutes and develop otherwise we might talk about him a few yrs from now as someone "they rushed to the NHL and ruined his development".

 

[DEANYOUNGBLOOD17]

So he has played 12 games so far in the NHL as a 19 year old...... that means he has used his 1 st year ELC this year.

The next big # is the 40 game mark where he will use 1 of his UFA years up that he owes to the Jets.

I think just being with the Jets for the 1 st half of the year is good for Gus development and pocket book.

He is eligible for Sweden’s WJC team and I think the Jets should let him participate there as well. After which he could help the Moose out keeping his game # under the UFA limit. He has played well defensively in a very limited role. But.... he still has not scored a NHL point. The Jets can find a replacement player and not rush Gus to free agency. Others players like Seuss/ Harkins /Spacek will need some ice time down the stretch as all 3 will be waiver eligible next year and we will need to see what we have with them.

 

[DEANYOUNGBLOOD17]

Gus First NHL Point Watch......Gus has Played well but no points in his first 12 NHL games playing 5 minutes a game.

I predict he gets his first NHL goal ( not assist)in Florida in the next 2 games.

I further predict it will be in true Hainsey/ Ray Neufeld fashion and have his 1st goal be really lucky as in bouncing in of his ass or other body part.

 

[Gm0ney]

I think he has to go back to Sweden if he's not on the Jets...maybe that's why they're keeping him around.

 

[voyageur]

I think he has to go back to Sweden if he's not on the Jets...maybe that's why they're keeping him around.

I could see keeping him around until the World Juniors. You have Harkins, Suess, Spacek all trying to make the bigs, and one of them may emerge as a 4th line centre by that point. He's not hurting the team, and has shown that he can match up fairly well against NHL players. He is suffering from revolving linemates more than anything. And we have seen in the past that it is hard to get the legs moving when you are sitting on the bench for a long stretch. Like that he finally got the call to PK, would like to see what he and Luoto could do together, with an opportunity.

 

[BoneDocUK]

Send him back.

The main thing that distinguishes a PoMo 4th line from the PB is that the PB delivers.

 

[GNP]

What I've seen of this 19 year old Gustafsson --has been really impressive. He sure doesn't look out of place out there, and gets some decent shots on net. I think he has some good upside, and will be an important part of the Jets in the future. He's also a pretty good skater.

Be interesting to see how he develops. I have to hand it to the Jet's scouting staff--they are a very sharp lot.

 

[WiscoJet]

Does he still have to go back to Sweden even though his ELC isn't sliding? That seems like a dumb rule to me if true.

 

[Arthur Fonzarelli]

I think he has to go back to Sweden if he's not on the Jets...maybe that's why they're keeping him around.

Does he? Yet another post regarding rules that may or may not exist.

There's certainly no NHL rule stating this to be true.

Liiga allegedly has some agreement with regards to players having to return that meet specific criteria, but even that has been poo poo'd as drivel by quite a few Finnish posters.

Would be great for someone to ask this question to Chevy point blank and settle this issue once and for all as to how it applies to each Euro league.

 

[GeorgeJETson]

Does he? Yet another post regarding rules that may or may not exist.

There's certainly no NHL rule stating this to be true.

Liiga allegedly has some agreement with regards to players having to return that meet specific criteria, but even that has been poo poo'd as drivel by quite a few Finnish posters.

Would be great for someone to ask this question to Chevy point blank and settle this issue once and for all as to how it applies to each Euro league.

Expect a lot of "you know", "it's a process", and him rambling on for several minutes and not really answering the question

 

[Atoyot]

I think he has to go back to Sweden if he's not on the Jets...maybe that's why they're keeping him around.

Yeah I don't think that's true at all. At worst he has the option to, but there's no way that he "has to".

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Does he still have to go back to Sweden even though his ELC isn't sliding? That seems like a dumb rule to me if true.

CF does not show a Euro assignment clause attached to his contract so I think he can go to the AHL.

Not sure but I think that Euro clause typically applies only in D+1.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

What I've seen of this 19 year old Gustafsson --has been really impressive. He sure doesn't look out of place out there, and gets some decent shots on net. I think he has some good upside, and will be an important part of the Jets in the future. He's also a pretty good skater.

Be interesting to see how he develops. I have to hand it to the Jet's scouting staff--they are a very sharp lot.

Skating is his weakness. He is not a smooth skater and he is slow. Needs to improve that.

 

[Gm0ney]

Well I don't know why the f*** they're keeping him with the Jets for 4 minutes a night, then...I mean, why not send him to the Moose and get some minutes in a bigger role? How the hell is this a proper way to develop a 19 year old player?

 

[Jet]

Well I don't know why the **** they're keeping him with the Jets for 4 minutes a night, then...I mean, why not send him to the Moose and get some minutes in a bigger role? How the hell is this a proper way to develop a 19 year old player?

I think he's a very intelligent player and he definitely has the body maturity to be in the league. Maybe the team is giving him enough experience so he really understands what he has to work on when he gets sent down.

Luoto is the curious one to me. He's not ready for prime time - and Shaw, well, he's just not an NHL player as far as I can tell.

I'd keep gus up a while longer and bring up Chibby and someone else to see if that can help get that line a few more minutes.

However, as we all know, Maurice is a 3 line guy so I don't think the fourth line will break 10 minutes with any regularity.

 

[GNP]

Skating is his weakness. He is not a smooth skater and he is slow. Needs to improve that.

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He didn't look slow to me from the little I've seen of him ? he seems to be keeping up with the play -- but you could be right ? I'll have to watch him a bit more closely, but he's getting limited ice time.

I notice he gets some nice shots on net, and when Appleton comes back, this will help that line. I'd like to see more of this guy.

 

[Deedog99]

Well I don't know why the **** they're keeping him with the Jets for 4 minutes a night, then...I mean, why not send him to the Moose and get some minutes in a bigger role? How the hell is this a proper way to develop a 19 year old player?

Especially saddling him with crappy wingers. Should be with the moose.