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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre. He is the son of IIHF Hall of Famer

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

Playing career

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

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and Langnau,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, 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 Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. 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 of the

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...

. 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 in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

affiliate, the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

, 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

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, 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 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, starting with the 2016-17 season. He parted company with Fribourg-Gottéron in December 2016 for personal reasons and signed with Färjestad BK 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; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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 BIK Karlskoga players Färjestad BK players HC Fribourg-Gottéron players Frölunda HC players NHL first-round draft picks SCL Tigers players IF Sundsvall Hockey players Swedish ice hockey centres 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Washington Capitals draft picks People from Karlskoga Municipality Ice hockey people from Örebro County