Earlier this week, James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now relayed (Twitter hyperlink) that veteran winger Nikita Gusev was on the ice on the Devils’ improvement camp. That wasn’t essentially only a random alumnus popping by, nonetheless, as Championat’s Dmitry Storozhev relays that Gusev is hoping to return to the NHL for subsequent season.
The 31-year-old beforehand spent two years on the high stage, one going a lot better than the opposite. In his first yr again in 2019-20 with New Jersey after being acquired from Vegas, Gusev did comparatively effectively, placing up 13 objectives and 31 assists in 66 video games whereas logging somewhat beneath quarter-hour an evening of ice time. Nevertheless, issues went off the rails the next season as he picked up simply two objectives and three assists in 20 video games earlier than finally having his contract terminated by the Devils late within the season. From there, he signed with Florida, including 5 extra factors in 11 video games down the stretch.
However after not getting a robust market in free company, Gusev finally determined to return to the KHL for the 2021-22 marketing campaign, signing with SKA St. Petersburg. He produced somewhat over a degree per sport in his two seasons with them earlier than shifting to Dynamo Moscow for the 2023-24 marketing campaign after having his contract with SKA terminated.
Gusev had a resurgent season with them, main the league in assists (66) and factors (89) whereas taking part in in all 68 video games. He then adopted that up with ten factors in 9 postseason contests. It’s the second time he has led the KHL in scoring, the primary being 2018-19, the yr earlier than he first got here to the NHL.
Whereas he has obtained a proposal to stay with Dynamo Moscow or to hitch different KHL franchises, it’s telling that Gusev stays unsigned; this report that he’s looking for one other NHL alternative will surely clarify why he hasn’t put pen to paper on a brand new deal but.
Contemplating how his time within the NHL ended a couple of years in the past and the truth that a whole lot of groups have finished their heavy lifting roster-wise this summer season, it stands to cause that Gusev received’t be capable of command a $4.5M AAV as he did final time. Nevertheless, if a group is wanting so as to add some offensive creativity to their roster and Gusev’s asking value is extra inexpensive, he could possibly be a very intriguing pickup for somebody within the coming days and weeks.
