Avalanche addresses goaltender position, acquires Jonas Johansson

After a day of back and forth in which it appeared the Avs were acquiring Jonas Johansson from the Buffalo Sabres, only to be denied by the team and then nothing happened the rest of the day, the Avalanche woke up this morning and finalized a deal with the Sabres.

Johansson is headed to Colorado while the Avs are giving the Sabres a 2021 sixth-round selection.

The 25-year-old Swedish netminder arrives in Colorado with less-than-sterling numbers as he’s 0-5-1 with an .884 save percentage and 3.79 goals against average. He has appeared in just 13 games overall after being a third-round pick of Buffalo’s back in 2014.

When the move was first rumored to be happening, there was a bit of a stir caused by Sabres beat writer John Vogl, who tweeted some pretty harsh thoughts about Johansson.

Jonas Johansson is likely going to Colorado, according to @KevinWeekes.

I can say without hesitation that the Avs are getting the worst goalie I've seen during my 19 seasons covering the Sabres.

He doesn't stop pucks in practice or games. https://t.co/lFC8cy6Epl

— John Vogl (@BuffaloVogl) March 19, 2021

The Avs felt compelled to make a move for a goaltender after giving Hunter Miska five games and getting a 1-1-2 record out of him. The real problem was his play was getting worse and the .838 save percentage is the lowest in Avalanche history among all goaltenders with a start.

Miska was pulled from his last start after giving up four goals on seven shots in the first period. Adam Werner replaced Miska on the roster yesterday as the team was set to make a move.

Johansson comes to the Avs as the cheap option and given the porous numbers he’s posted so far in his career, they may be putting the “anyone can be better” theory to the test.

There are reasons for optimism for the 6’5″ Johansson, however. He was an AHL All-Star just last year and while the results with the Sabres aren’t encouraging on their own, it’s fair to wonder how much better Johansson will look behind a team a little more defensively sound that the atrocious Sabres.

There’s also this quote from Johansson’s goaltending coach back in Sweden, Per Alcen, via Robin Fredriksson.

“I would describe Jonas as an all-around goalie who is still trying to find his style,” Alcen, who has also coached Jacob Markstrom, Anders Lindback, Niklas Svedberg, Joacim Eriksson, and Eddie Lack before they headed to North America. “He is physically and mentally very strong. Extremely willing to work hard on his game. Sometimes he can be too nice maybe. He has taken a similar journey as Markström who also took a while to reach the NHL, it takes time to learn the North American game, Markström reads the game very well after a long time there.”

Alcen added that opportunity is a huge part of the story and the Sabres really only dipped their toe in with Johansson before comparing him to current Avalanche prospect Adam Werner.

“I think Buffalo should have given him a bigger chance really,” Alcen said. “You need a legit shot otherwise it’s very hard, but they have Ullmark who has been great. Adam Werner is a guy uses his size, who sits in the net, trying to read the game, and plays the percentages, Jonas has the size to do that, but he isn’t taught to play that style. He is better on his skates, moves his feet more, In my opinion, he has bigger potential and is a better goalie than Werner today.”

Clearly the Avalanche are inclined to agree otherwise they wouldn’t have made the move to give Johansson a look ahead of Werner. Alcen also made note of Vogl’s tweet and ultimately disagreeing with the assessment.

“I saw what the Buffalo reporter said about him, but.. Sorry but sometimes I’m so sick of the media, they don’t need to dump on a guy like that and there is no way Jonas is the worst goalie they have had for 19 years.”

When informed Colorado’s goaltender coach is Jussi Parkkila, Alcen added that Johansson is heading to a perfect spot.

“That’s gonna suit Jonas perfect,” Alcen said. “I love working with goaltenders from Finland, they fit my style well, and that’s gonna be perfect for Jonas I think.”

Because of the NHL’s rules on quarantine and changing teams, Johansson would have had to quarantine for seven days but the Avalanche are chartering a private plane to bypass those restrictions and make Johansson eligible to play immediately.

With Colorado in Arizona for a back-to-back next week, we Johansson’s debut for the Avalanche may not have to wait long.