Nikita Andreyevich Gusev (russian: Никита Андреевич Гусев; born 8 July 1992), nicknamed "Goose", is a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

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 h ...

forward currently playing under contract for SKA Saint Petersburg of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL). He won the KHL's

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup (russian: Кубок Гагарина, Kubok Gagarina) is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was ...

Championship in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

with SKA Saint Petersburg. Gusev was selected by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

in the seventh round, 202nd overall, of the

2012 NHL Entry Draft The 2012 NHL Entry Draft was the 50th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held June 22–23, 2012, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first time that Pittsburgh hosted the draft since the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. The top thr ...

. after not being signed by Tampa Gusev became known as one of the best players in the KHL - winning the KHL's Golden Stick (MVP) award in 2017-18, earning the most assists in a KHL season twice, and finished the 2018-19 season with 81 points (17 goals / 65 assists) which is the 2nd best season by a player in the history of the KHL behind Sergei Mozyakin record of 85 points. He then moved to the NHL playing parts of 2 seasons in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and the Florida Panthers. Internationally he has represented Russia winning a Gold medal at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

, where he was also named the tournament's best forward.

Playing career

Professional

SKA Saint Petersburg

On 14 July 2017, Gusev signed a two-year contract extension with

(KHL) powerhouse club SKA Saint Petersburg. In the 2018–19 season, his last season under contract with SKA, Gusev posted a career and league-high 82 points, leading the KHL with 65 assists. He continued his offensive dominance in the post-season, contributing 19 points in 18 games before suffering a conference final defeat for the second consecutive season to

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

. Through nine seasons in the KHL, Gusev is 10th all-time with 332 points in 391 games.

New Jersey Devils

On 21 June 2017, with the selection of

Jason Garrison Jason John Maxwell Garrison (born November 13, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League (AHL). Garrison played two y ...

by the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expa ...

in the

2017 NHL Expansion Draft Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

, the Knights received from the

the rights to Gusev, along with a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and a fourth-round pick in the

2018 NHL Entry Draft The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was the 56th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 22–23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was the second of two professional sports drafts to be held in the Dalla ...

as compensation for the Golden Knights agreeing to select Garrison. On 14 April 2019, Gusev signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights, instantly joining the club amid their first-round playoff series against the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

, remaining on the Golden Knights extended squad without playing for the club. On 29 July 2019, Gusev as a restricted free agent, was traded by the Golden Knights to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a third-round pick in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

and a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He immediately agreed to terms with the Devils on a two-year, $9 million contract with an average annual value of $4,500,000. In the following 2019–20 season, Gusev made an immediate offensive impact with the rebuilding Devils, leading the club with 31 assists and placing second in points with 44 through 66 games before the remainder of the regular season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. With the Devils missing the postseason, Gusev returned to action in the delayed 2020–21 season and struggled to replicate the previous season's campaign offensively, posting just two goals and five points through 20 games. On 9 April 2021, the Devils placed Gusev on unconditional waivers in order to mutually terminate the remainder of his contract.

Florida Panthers

On 11 April 2021, Gusev signed as a free agent to a one-year, $1 million contract with the Florida Panthers.

Return to SKA

As a free agent over the summer and approaching the season, Gusev opted to continue his career in the NHL, signing a Professional Tryout contract in accepting an invitation to attend the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

training camp on September 18, 2021. Gusev was later released from his tryout on October 5, 2021. with no other NHL teams expressing an interest he opted to return to the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

, with his former team SKA Saint Petersburg.

International play

Gusev has played for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

at the World Junior Championships and World Championships. He was a member of the Olympic Athletes from Russia team at the

. On 23 January 2022, Gusev was named to the roster to represent

Russian Olympic Committee athletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics Russian athletes competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from all international sport for four years, after it was found that data ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gusev, Nikita 1992 births Amur Khabarovsk players HC CSKA Moscow players Florida Panthers players HC Yugra players Ice hockey people from Moscow Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Krasnaya Armiya (MHL) players Living people Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics New Jersey Devils players Olympic gold medalists for Olympic Athletes from Russia Olympic silver medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes Olympic ice hockey players of Russia Olympic medalists in ice hockey Russian ice hockey forwards SKA Saint Petersburg players Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks