Minnesota inks star goalie to multi-year deal, blows the Samsonov contract out of the water
The Minnesota Wild made a splash on Monday, finally coming to terms on a 3-year contract extension for their starting goaltender, Filip Gustavsson. The "Gus Bus" has agreed to a 3-year deal worth $3.75M per season, totaling $11.25M over the course of the deal.
Gustavsson appeared in 39 games for the Wild last season, sporting a sparking 2.10 GAA and a sizzling .931 SV%, posting a 22-9-7 record over that span. The deal has him under contract through 2025-26, at which point he'll become an unrestricted free agent.
Gustavsson's numbers were vastly superior to those of Leafs netminder Ilya Samsonov, who was awarded a $3.55M award in salary arbitration just over one week ago. Samsonov went 27-10-5 over 42 games last season, posting a .919 SV% and a 2.33 GAA.
It's too bad that the Wild were not able to get Gustavsson signed prior to the Leafs' arbitration hearing with Samsonov, as Gus' new deal would have provided the Leafs with a lot of negotiating power and may have even resulted in a lower AAV than the $3.55M that Sammy had received in arbitration. They may have also been able to negotiate a multi-year deal, avoiding a 1-year arb award and locking Samsonov up beyond 2023-24.
The Wild were able to eat up one year of UFA with Gustavsson as well.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 31 | 27 ANSWERS Minnesota inks star goalie to multi-year deal, blows the Samsonov contract out of the water Which goalie is on the better deal next season; Ilya Samsonov or Filip Gustavsson? | ||
| Gustavsson (3x$3.75M) | 11 | 40.7 % |
| Samsonov (1x$3.55M) | 16 | 59.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
