Minnesota Wild: What Ilya Samsonov's $3.55 Million In Arbitration Means For Filip Gustavsson

A third-party arbitrator settled on a one-year deal earning Samsonov $3.55 million for the 2023-24 season.

What does this mean for Filip Gustavsson and the Wild? 

The Wild's No. 1 priority this offseason has been RFA goaltender Filip Gustavsson and getting him signed. His current arbitration date is Aug. 4. 

Gustavsson and the Wild could still come to a contract agreement before then, but as of now Wild fans may have to wait until Aug. 4 before Gustavsson is signed. 

The Wild sent both Brandon Duhaime and Gustavsson to arbitration but agreed on a deal with Duhaime just a couple days before his arbitration date. Duhaime got a one-year deal with a cap hit of $1.1 million. 

After Duhaime's deal, the Wild have roughly $5.39 million left in cap space per Puckpedia, with Gustavsson and defenseman Calen Addison without contracts as their two RFA's. Addison wasn't eligible to file for arbitration and will likely be signed after Gustavsson so the Wild know what they have left. 

You also have to factor in what Marco Rossi and Brock Faber make towards the cap since they will likely be on the team to start the year.

Thinking about that, you probably can't sign Gustavsson for more than $4 million, still give Addison a contract while also managing any other call-ups, and be under the cap. 

Now if Gustavsson's deal goes over $4 million maybe the Wild look to move a player like Jon Merrill to free up some extra space. 

If you look back at last season, Gustavsson had a better season than Samsonov, but Samsonov arguably has been the better goalie in the last couple of seasons. Opposed to Gustavsson who had one really good season last year.

Samsonov has played in 131 games and has started 119 of them. He has a 79-32-13 career record with a .908 save percentage and 2.65 goals-against average. 

Gustavsson on the other hand has started 60 career games out of the 66 he has appeared in. He holds a 32-32-10 record with a career .920 save percentage and 2.51 goals-against average. 

According to Evolving Hockey, Gustavsson ranked second in the NHL in FSv% behind Vezina Award winning Linus Ullmark. He also ranked third in the NHL in GSAA behind Ullmark and Ilya Sorokin. 

Samsonov ranked fifth in FSv% and tenth in GSAA. Evolving hockey describes FSv% as Fenwick Save Percentage and GSAA as Goals Saved Above Average.

What is different between Samsonov's arbitration case to Gustavsson is Samsonov only got a one-year deal where Gustavsson can get two years. 

It will be interesting to see if the Wild let Gustavsson's deal go to the arbitrator or if they can get something done with their 25-year-old goaltender before Aug 4.