It was a rollercoaster 2020-21 for Gusev in which he went through Covid protocol in February, spent a few weeks on the sidelines, and needed to get his conditioning back up to par before returning to the lineup with a bang (three points in his first three games). At the time of his return from Covid, Gusev had played just nine games in 11 months due to the shutdown of the 2020-21 season (the Devils were out of the playoff tournament) and a delayed start to 2021-22.
Gusev then lost his spot in new Devils coach Lindy Ruff’s lineup through the month of March, culminating in 10 healthy scratches and an unconditional waiver assignment for the purposes of terminating his $4.