As per Darren Dreger, the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed restricted free agent Jonas Gustavsson to a two year deal worth $1.35M per season. Chemmy took a look at his comparables earlier this year and this deal surpasses even that optimistic outlook:

I'd say a fair offer at this point for Gustavsson would be a shorter term deal, 2-3 years at between $1.5M and $1.75M. That's a decent raise that's probably more than he'd get in arbitration at this rate and gives him a chance to prove that he's worth more money to a club right around the time he's 28.

This deal is a boon to the Toronto Maple Leafs' cap situation and a testament to both Brian Burke's negotiating skills and Jonas Gustavsson's desire to be a Maple Leaf. He surely appreciated the Leafs' acquisition of Francois Allaire and Jean-Sebastien Giguere as supports to ensure that he reaches his potential. He will have one more year of apprenticeship with Giguere and hopefully after a healthy season the Leafs will be able to decide if he is the goaltender of the future.


GP MIN W L EGA GA GAA SA SV SV% SO
2009 - Jonas Gustavsson 42 2340 16 15 112 2.87 1146 1034 .902 1

This signing should also give some hope that James Mirtle's estimates won't be met and Nikolai Kulemin will come in at a cheaper price than anticipated.