One year wonder Erik Gustafsson signs a PTO

From 60 points in a season to a tryout contract!?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
One year wonder Erik Gustafsson signs a PTO
Zuma Press

According to a report from NHL insider Chris Johnston, veteran defenseman Erik Gustafsson has signed a professional tryout (PTO) contract with the New York Islanders.

Check it out:


The 29 year old Gustafsson has bounced around the league the past few seasons after an absolutely dominant campaign back in 2018-19 with the Chicago Blackhawks. Gustafsson put up a remarkable 17 goals and 60 points in 79 games with the Blackhawks that season, but has failed to come anywhere near close to that in the two seasons since. Last season he put up just a single goal and 12 points in 29 games split between the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens. In total he has 29 goals and 131 points in 250 career NHL games split between the Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, Flyers and Canadiens. 

For whatever reason Gustafsson has never been able to replicate the success he found with the Blackhawks during that one campaign. Most notably though, he took over a lot of powerplay responsibilities from the aging Duncan Keith that season and we all know that Keith absolutely FEASTED on points for nearly a decade as the quarterback of the Blackhawks PP. The fact of the matter is that Gustafsson is a gifted player with the puck and has natural offensive instincts, but he has to be put in the exact right situation in order for his game to really flourish. Now, I'm not saying that Islanders head coach Barry Trotz is the worst possible choice to unlock Gustafsson's game... but I'm not NOT saying that either, if you catch my drift.

Trotz is a no-nonsense, defense first kind of coach who simply will not tolerate a single turnover or bad read at the offensive blue line. In other words, I expect Gustafsson to be on a pretty short leash at Islanders training camp next week. With Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock holding down first pairing minutes for the Isles, Gustafsson will likely be competing with youngster Noah Dobson for playing time. Both Gustafsson and Dobson are offensively-minded blue liners with good skating ability and booming point shots. If nothing else this move could be seen as an effort from GM Lou Lamoriello to light a fire under Dobson, the incoming rookie. Thoughts, Isles fans?