With the need for draft preparation at a bare minimum Tampa Bay Lightning general manager, Julien BriseBois, is getting a start on free agency. After grasping a defenseman out of the European leagues yesterday, Mr. BriseBois stayed a little closer to home as he re-signed goaltender Jonas Johansson to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.25 million. Johnansson had spent the previous two seasons serving as Andrei Vasilevskiy’s back-up, and it appears he’ll continue that for another two years at least.
The 29-year-old netminder may have appeared in fewer games this season than he did in his inaugural season with the Lightning, but his stats improved year over year.