Maple Leafs trade Jonas Gustavsson's free agent rights to Winnipeg
PITTSBURGH -- The Winnipeg Jets acquired the free agent rights to goaltender Jonas Gustavsson from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday morning in exchange for a conditional 2013 seventh-round draft pick.
Gustavsson is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1, so this gives the Jets a head start on trying to sign him to a new contract.
The Maple Leafs originally signed Gustavsson out of Sweden a few years ago, and it was a move that had a great deal of fanfare given Gustavsson's potential. It never really worked out in Toronto, however, and in his three years with the Leafs posted a 39-45-15 record to go with a .900 save percentage.
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In 42 games this past season with the Leafs he posted a .902 save percentage, which was the best of his career.
As it stands right now the Jets don't have a single goalie under contract at the NHL level. Ondrej Pavelec, last year's starter, is a restricted free agent (and there seems to be some uncertainty as to his future with the team) while his backup from last year, Chris Mason, is an unrestricted free agent.
Given that it cost the Jets next to nothing to acquire Gustavsson's rights it's worth the move if they feel he can still reach his potential in the NHL, or at the very least give them some sort of production as a backup.
Whether or not he's capable of giving them (or any NHL team) that sort of production remains to be seen.
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