Following the acquisition of top netminder prospect Filip Gustavsson from the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to the NHL Trade Deadline, we caught up with Ottawa Senators goaltending coach Pierre Groulx who recently travelled to Sweden to watch him play during the SHL playoffs.

"What I saw live, is what I had seen on video," said Groulx about his scouting trip. "Watching the games at the World Juniors and in the Swedish Hockey League, he reads the play extremely well, he's a very mature kid and his lateral mobility is exceptionally good. Obviously there are some things that we're going to work on but he's got good size at 6'2"."
While Groulx left Sweden with some good first-hand viewing of Gustavsson's on-ice play, he was equally impressed about the person he got to know off the ice and praised the 19-year-old's maturity.
"What I like about him as a person is that the maturity that you see on the ice as a goaltender is the maturity you see off the ice," shared Groulx. "It's important for me to build a relationship with the goaltender and to see him in that setting where he practices and get the chance to talk to goalie coaches from Lulea. Getting to know the person was very important to me."
Groulx, who was able to spend a few days at and away from the rink with Gustavsson during his visit, made it pretty clear that he was happy to have the chance to work with one of the top goalie prospects. In fact, he was a bit surprised to find out that Gustavsson was available prior to the completion of the trade with the Penguins.
"We all saw how well he played for Sweden at the World Juniors so when there was a possibility that we could acquire him, I went through a lot of video so that we really knew the goalie as best we could through video," recalled Groulx. "Once the trade was an option and we had scoured over a bunch of video to make sure that we knew the goalie, I sent my report back to Pierre saying that he's a very good prospect who'd be great to add to our pipeline."

With Luleå eliminated from the SHL playoffs, the plan for Gustavsson for the remainder of this season is pretty clear but lined with red tape unfortunately. He's expected to join the Belleville Senators as soon as possible but there are a few hoops to jump through first before that move can be made.
"Right now, the plan is for him to come over but there are always logistics so Pierre and Randy are working on those," said Groulx. "When and if he can come over, the sooner the better and the plan is for him to play some games in Belleville."
Getting Gustavsson some early exposure to the AHL and the smaller, North American ice surface seems to be a priority as that transition can take some time to adjust to.
"Even if it's just one or two games, to get the butterflies out as far as playing on the North American ice and getting to know some of the guys in the organization," Groulx said. "Hopefully he can get the jitters out this year so that next year he can hit the ground running."
While all parties work to solidfy Gustavsson's debut in the AHL with Belleville this season, Groulx did state that he will attend the team's Development Camp at the end of June where they'll continue to develop a long-term plan for the young goalie prospect.
"Every goalie comes into training camp pushing for a job with the Ottawa Senators," he said. "That's what we tell all our goalies. We want them to push each other but ultimately contracts are what contracts are. We'd like him to be in Belleville next season but there are some logistical issues and he's still eligible to play in Sweden."

Some numbers:

Here's a look at Gustavsson's stats from this season:
| SEASON | LEAGUE | GP | GAA | SV% | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Luleå HF J20 | SuperElit | 7 | 1.71 | .925 | | Luleå HF | SHL | 22 | 2.07 | .918 | | Sweden U20 | WJHC | 6 | 1.81 | .924 |

From the GM:

"We feel that Gustavsson is one of the game's top goaltending prospects, a dynamic talent who has excelled in the Swedish Hockey League as a teenager and was the top goaltender at the most recent world junior championship."- Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion following the acquisition of Gustavsson