The Monster is headed home.
After eight years in the NHL and nearly 200 appearances on his resume, veteran goalie Jonas Gustavsson has returned to his native Sweden and signed with SHL club Linkoping.
The team announced news of the three-year deal on Thursday, just days after Gustavsson and AHL Bakersfield missed qualifying for the Calder Cup playoffs.
The 32-year-old found himself in the American League after a rough stint in Edmonton. Signed on a one-year, $800,000 deal to back up Cam Talbot, Gustavsson struggled to fill the role, going 1-3-1 with a .878 save percentage and 3.10 GAA before getting waived in January.
More: The Gustavsson signing has been a predictably bad one for the Oilers
Gustavsson was replaced by Laurent Brossoit as Edmonton’s No. 2, then appeared in 20 games for the Condors. He did score his first career goal with Bakersfield, so that’s something.
One considered a ballyhooed prospect -- he was regarded as one of the top goalies outside the NHL when he signed with Toronto seven years ago -- Gustavsson has never really lived up to the hype. He shouldered a couple of heavy workloads for the Leafs early on, and his best play might’ve come in a brief cameo for Detroit in ’13-14, when he posted a .917 save percentage over a pair of starts.