Carl Anton Gustafsson (born February 25, 1990) is a Swedish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He is the son of IIHF Hall of Famer

Bengt-Åke Gustafsson Bengt-Åke Gustafsson (born 23 March 1958) is a Swedish ice hockey coach and former ice hockey player. Gustafsson is a former head coach of the Sweden men's national ice hockey team, a post he held from February 2005 to May 2010. During his ...

Playing career

Born in Sweden, Gustafsson spent parts of his childhood in Feldkirch,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and Langnau,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where his father was playing and then coaching. He then moved back to Sweden where he developed into a top prospect, making his debut in the country's top-flight SHL with

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

during the 2007-08 season. Gustafsson was selected in the first round, 21st overall, by the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

in the

2008 NHL Entry Draft The 2008 NHL Entry Draft was the 46th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted by the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, on June 20–21, 2008. The Senators were originally awarded the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, but because of ...

. Gustafsson was ranked fifth among European skaters by the NHL's Central Scouting Service. After being drafted by the Capitals in 2008, Gustafsson played the 2008–09 season with

Bofors IK BIK Karlskoga is a Swedish ice hockey team based in Karlskoga, Sweden. They are currently playing in the second highest league in Sweden, the HockeyAllsvenskan. In 1963, the club IFK Bofors was merged with Karlskoga IF and formed KB 63 (formally ...

of the

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system (after the SHL). Since the 2009–10 season, the league consists of fourteen team ...

. He then signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Capitals on May 15, 2009. The Capitals assigned him to their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

affiliate, the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...

, during the 2009–10 preseason, and on October 15, 2009, they loaned him to Borås HC for the remainder of the season in order to get him more playing time than was feasible in Hershey. Gustafsson returned to North America for the 2010 season, but did not make the Capitals team or the Bears team. After spending training camp in Washington and Hershey, he was assigned to the

South Carolina Stingrays The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston Co ...

, the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

affiliate of the

on October 9, 2010. On October 18, 2010, after playing one game with the Stingrays, Gustafsson informed the Capitals that he no longer wished to continue his career in North America and returned to Europe. The Capitals immediately suspended his contract. He played for Swiss NLA outfit

SCL Tigers SC Langnau Tigers are a professional ice hockey team from Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL). The team plays its home games in the 6,000-seat Ilfis Stadium, which is currently one of the smallest arenas in the ...

in the 2010–11 and 2011-12 season, followed by one year at Asplöven HC in his native Sweden. Gustafsson then returned to the SCL Tigers for a second stint, playing under his father and helping the club win the 2015 NLB championship and move back to the NLA. Midway through the 2015-16 campaign, which he again spent with the SCL Tigers, Gustafsson inked a two-year deal with fellow NLA side

HC Fribourg-Gottéron HC Fribourg-Gottéron is a professional ice hockey team based in Fribourg, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (NL). The team is the sixth most attended team in Switzerland for the 2015/16 season with 6,156 spectators. History The ...

, starting with the 2016-17 season. He parted company with Fribourg-Gottéron in December 2016 due to personal reasons and signed with

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien) ...

of the Swedish Hockey League shortly after leaving Switzerland. At the conclusion of the 2016–17 season, Gustafsson moved back to Switzerland for a second stint with NLA side SCL Tigers, signing a two-year deal in April 2017. Following his fifteenth professional season, Gustafsson announced his retirement from hockey on 26 August 2022.

Personal

Gustafsson is the son of former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

player and former Swedish national team head coach

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gustafsson, Anton 1990 births Living people Asplöven HC players EHC Biel players Borås HC players Bofors IK players Färjestad BK players HC Fribourg-Gottéron players Frölunda HC players National Hockey League first-round draft picks SCL Tigers players IF Sundsvall Hockey players Swedish ice hockey centres Washington Capitals draft picks People from Karlskoga Municipality Sportspeople from Örebro County