According to Kevin Weekes, the Buffalo Sabres have traded goaltender Jonas Johansson in what could be the first of many of the deadline approaches. The 25-year-old Johansson hasn’t played much yet this year, but he looks like a fine backup if given the right situation.
**Breaking News** From what I’m told the @BuffaloSabres and @Avalanche appear to be close on a deal involving Johansson . @NHL @NHLNetwork #HockeyTwitter
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) March 19, 2021
Sabres Trade Jonas Johansson
Buffalo has largely relied upon Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton for 2020-21, but Johansson does have a handful of games to his credit. The 6’5″ Swede has appeared in seven contests with a .884 save percentage and 3.79 goals-against-average. Those aren’t great numbers, but none of Buffalo’s netminders have performed well on a consistent basis. The important thing with Johansson is that he has been very good at the AHL level. He sports two seasons of save percentages above .920 and goals-against below 2.3 with Rochester. It’s easy to attribute his struggles at the NHL level to the fact that the Sabres are just very bad in almost every regard right now.
The Sabres originally Johansson in the third round of the 2014 Draft, but he didn’t debut until last year. He has NHL size and should be a fine backup option moving forward. His stats at the highest level are not good, but it’s only 11 starts in 13 total appearances. A change of scenery seems like just what the 25-year-old needs.
What This Means For The Future
Johansson should be an immediate option to backup the primary starter for his new team. His AHL stats indicate someone who is on the cusp of being a solid regular occasional stretches behind a defence better than the one in Buffalo.
For the Sabres, this represents the first move of many as the deadline nears. They are one of the worst teams in the league with very little in terms of top prospect talent. The return should help boost a rebuild over the next few seasons.
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