First off, for the latest Sens updates, please follow me on Twitter at
Follow @KevinFr65525204
Give me a Twitter follow, I will give you a follow too!

Has the Ottawa Senators' coaching staff and management failed in developing Filip Gustavsson this season? It's a question I get asked quite often by not just Sens fans but other NHL radio personalities when I do guest radio spots. Unfortunately, I believe this has been a wasted season to date for Gus in terms of his development and it all starts with the coaching staff. Back in mid-December DJ and Sens GM Pierre Dorion told the fanbase that the youth movement was on and all the top prospects would get a lot of playing time at the NHL level. Well, the Sens number one goaltending prospect to start the season had a strong start to the season, due in part to actually getting consistent starts in goal. The only problem was that Gus was getting zero goal support while keeping the Sens in many of those games in late October and November. At times, DJ said in his postgame pressers that if it wasn't for Gus, the team never would've been in the games he started.

Fast forward to the last four months and Gustavsson has started 5 NHL games while coming in relief for Forsberg once when Anton was struggling to find his game back in January when he lost all three starts. Here is a look at his starts since Dec. 1st.

Dec. 1st - 6-2 L
Dec. 7th - 5-3 L
Jan. 20th - 6-4 L vs. Pitt, came in relief for Forsberg
Feb. 20th - 2-1 L
Mar. 14th - 5-3 L
Mar. 19th - 5-1 L

If anyone on this coaching staff thinks Gustavsson is going to progress at the NHL level playing this amount of games, they truly are more inept than I thought. During the same stretch, he started 8 games in Belleville going 4-3-1 while coming in relief twice for Mads Sogaard. The other game he played in Belleville was way back on Oct. 22nd a 4-0 loss, giving him 9 starts and one relief appearance at the AHL level.

At the NHL level, Gus has started 12 games and had 2 relief appearances. From Oct. 17-Nov. 27, he had 8 starts and came in relief vs. Washington, which was another game that Forsberg struggled in, allowing 4 goals on 16 shots in less than a period of hockey.

Fans forget how Forsberg struggled the first two months of the season when Gustavsson was easily the team's most consistent goaltender back then. Naturally, his success came from getting more starts in goal during that stretch, unlike what he's getting right now which has contributed to a drop in his play that we saw back during the first quarter of the season. Every NHL scout or font office personnel that I've talked to over the past week about the goaltending situation all say they don't understand the handling of Gustavsson since December 1st.

My question to Sens fans is, what's more important right now, playing Forsberg more often while getting a few more wins or getting Gustavsson more playing time so he's better prepared for next season? There are no expectations for this team over the last quarter of the season, so why does it matter so much that Forsberg gets 80% of the starts while destroying Gustavsson's confidence. Why not build up his confidence by getting him more consistent action in goal. If it can't happen here in Ottawa, then send him down to Belleville to get the bulk of the starts in the AHL.

Either way, this coaching staff, and management need to figure this out now as nobody knows what the future will bring with Matt Murray with his injury history. The Sens need a strong start to next season and they need to look ahead to next October by making sure both Gustavsson and Forsberg finish this season strong to build on for the 2022-23 season.

Thoughts, comments?!
Thanks for reading.

Kevin

Join the Discussion: » 176 Comments » Post New Comment

» Which player has exceeded expectations so far this season?!

» The Sens are in the playoff conversation to start 2023!!!!

» Sens set for critical back to back home games!

» Sens Gameday/More injuries/Sale of team

» Sens Gameday in Dallas/Dorion tried very hard to trade Formenton!