Nikita Gusev is in limbo.
Nikita Gusev won the 2018 Olympic points exchange with 4+8. PDO
KHL star Nikita Gusev the situation is surprising in Russia. Gusev, 30, who represented St. Petersburg’s SKA last season, has already been out of action for half a year, as he is still not on any team’s roster.
The last time the man was heard of was in mid-August, when he announced that he was seeking a place in the NHL. At that time, he estimated that things should move forward by mid-September at the latest.
– Otherwise, I won’t be able to get a work visa in time to fly to the training camp, Gusev said according to Championat.
However, no place has been found. The sand in the hourglass is dwindling, because the NHL season starts on the night between Friday and Saturday.
NHL visit to the coast
Gusev, who overwhelmingly won the KHL’s point exchange, retired with the greatest expectations in the fall of 2019. The first season with the New Jersey Devils produced a reasonable 44 power points, but the following season began to slip, which eventually led to him not being offered an extension contract with the new club, the Florida Panthers.
Last spring’s playoffs in SKA went at a point-per-game pace, but age, an unsuccessful visit and a lack of skating power seem to be weighing on the scales of NHL clubs to such an extent that a new opportunity in North America has not been blessed. The Championat website points out that other Gusev compatriots who have been in the same situation have either aspired to the NHL through a try out or ended up taking the KHL bait.
The long wait for a place to play raises questions about what the 2018 Olympic champion really intends to do with his career. It would at least seem clear at this point that the KHL is still not high on the man’s list.
– So far, no decisions have been made regarding Nikita Gusev’s future club, the player’s agent Yuri Nikolaev was content to state to Championat.