Welcome back to "Who Is That Player?" I am pleased to announce I am unfazed by the early start time.
Today we scour the Jets' roster ultimately landing on that famous Swedish center,
David Gustafsson.
Drafted by Winnipeg 60th overall in 2018 (16 picks after Albin Eriksson [Still mired in Tier 2 Sweden]), Gustafsson profiled as a role player with limited offensive upside from the jump.
Coming over to North America quickly for the 2019 campaign, the "Gus Bus" as he is affectionately known, has struggled to find a consistent spot with the NHL club tallying only 9 points in 84 games.
Entering the final year of his contract and fast approaching arbitration eligibility the Swedish pivot was given an ultimatum by Rick Bowness over the summer, who while loving low-event grinder types, has a limit:
I was pretty blunt with him. You’re going to have to come to this team and earn your ice time. You’re going to have to make this team this year. You don’t have a spot given to you.
His timing offensively is better. But, again, his main job here is to kill penalties, win faceoffs, be versatile and be ready to do the job, whatever we ask him to do.
Source 1 |
Source 2
Curiously, Gustafsson has been used sparingly on the penalty kill as the team's 6th forward option logging a scant 45 seconds per game. He has also taken a minimal amount of faceoffs (29) winning them at a 55% clip.
This has been, "Who Is That Player?"
