The Tampa Bay Lightning have added another Swedish goaltender to the organization as they signed free agent Jonas Johansson to a two-year contract with a $775,000 AAV on Saturday. The big (6’5″, 220 lb) netminder has 35 NHL games on his record with stops in Buffalo, Colorado (twice), and Florida. Last year he appeared in 3 games with the Avalanche, posting 2 wins, a .932 save percentage, and 2.10 goals against average.
In 26 games with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL he added another 14 wins with a 2.33 goals against and .920 save percentage. Originally a third-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2014, the 27-year-old has had a meandering journey to the NHL as he was once a highly touted prospect, but his game had seemingly stalled at the AHL level.
Based on the signings so far, he’s likely to be in the mix with Matt Tompkins to back up Andrei Vasilevskiy in Tampa despite his relative inexperience at the top level.
Official Press Release:
TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed free agent goaltender Jonas Johansson to a two-year contract worth an AAV $775,000, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today.
Johansson, 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, appeared in three games with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022-23, posting a 2-0-0 record with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. He spent the majority of the season with the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League, where he posted a 14-9-2 record with a 2.33 GAA and a .920 save percentage. Johansson ranked third in the league for GAA and was fourth for save percentage. He played in four games during the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs and posted a 2-2 record with a 2.75 GAA.
A native of Gavle, Sweden, Johansson has played in 35 career NHL games with Colorado, the Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres. He has also skated in 69 career games in the AHL with the Eagles, Charlotte Checkers and Rochester Americans, amassing a 39-21-6 record with a 2.56 GAA and a .911 save percentage.
Prior to coming to North America, Johansson, 27, played for Brynas IF in the Swedish Elite League and Almtuna IS in the HockeyAllsvenskan (Swedish second tier). He earned a silver medal for Sweden at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship and also represented his country in the 2013 U-18 Men’s World Championship where he was named one of Sweden’s top three players.
Johansson was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the third round, 61st overall, in the 2014 NHL Draft. He was traded to Colorado by Buffalo on March 21, 2021 in exchange for a sixth-round selection in the 2021 draft.
