The Dallas Morning News announced on Monday that the Dallas Stars released their training camp roster and on it is former New York Islanders netminder Christopher Gibson. The 30-year-old Gibson has reportedly signed a PTO to attend Stars training camp and figures to be a long shot to make the big club as Dallas has Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood firmly entrenched between the pipes.
Gibson last saw NHL action with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020-21 COVID-19-shorted season, going 1-1 with a .875 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average. The native of Karkkila, Finland, has seen limited action over his four-year NHL career, dressing in just 16 games with a record of 4-5-3 while sporting a 3.33 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.
As one might expect, Gibson’s numbers in the AHL are superior to his NHL numbers. Over the course of his ten-year AHL career, Gibson has played 244 games going 124-77-28 while posting 14 shutouts and a .910 save percentage. Although his AHL numbers are better, they haven’t been particularly good the past two seasons and are well off his career average. Last year with the Coachella Valley Firebirds Gibson went 10-5-4 with a 2.99 goals against average and a .894 save percentage.
He might be unlikely to land with the Stars in Dallas, but Gibson will have a good opportunity to audition for AHL work and could land himself a minor-league deal with a good showing. Gibson was a second-round pick 49th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and at one point looked like he would be a big part of the Islanders’ future. He has good size and terrific athleticism but has never been able to put it all together at the NHL level.
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