Top 3 intriguing forwards on PTO for 2021-22 training camps
By Scott Cowan
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Nikita Gusev to PTO
The arrival of Kirill Kaprizov with the Minnesota Wild has certainly spoiled NHL fans regarding the potential of KHL imported players. While Kaprizov has proved himself as a true game-breaking star at any level, he could of just as likely been another Vadim Shipachyov, Sergei Plotnikov, or in this case, Nikita Gusev. To say the Goose’s entire tenure in the NHL has been unsuccessful would be an unfair presumption, though the former SKA St. Petersburg star nonetheless found himself with little to no NHL interest this past off-season, all except for his current PTO, with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A former seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Gusev never signed with the team after being promised a role as little more than a depth AHL contributor. After establishing himself as a bonafide star with St. Petersburg alongside Shipachyov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, and Evgeni Dadonov, Gusev was acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights as a throw-in to a trade with the Lightning, eventually signing a one-year entry-level deal with the team. After being unable to find room for the Russian native contract-wise, Vegas dealt him to the New Jersey Devils, where he would ultimately make his NHL debut.
After posting an impressive 44 points over 66 games in his first season, however, it’s been all downhill from there, culminating in his current chance in Toronto after a failed 11-game experiment with the Florida Panthers. While his defensive game still leaves a lot to be desired, as does his skating, Gusev is still a highly-skilled offensive talent when given the right opportunities and is a player whom I feel we’ve only scratched the surface of. With limited opportunities and a lack of true game-breaking talent around him thus far, a shot in Toronto could be just what the doctor ordered for Gusev a la Alex Galchenyuk.