- Ottawa acquired goaltender Jonas Johansson from Tampa Bay for future considerations
- The move comes hours after Vancouver claimed Leevi Merilainen off waivers from the Senators
- Read below for what Johansson brings to the crease behind Linus Ullmark
The Senators didn’t wait long to fill their crease.
Ottawa acquired goaltender Jonas Johansson from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday in exchange for future considerations. Here’s the team’s announcement:
Vancouver claimed goaltender Leevi Merilainen off waivers from the Senators just hours earlier, the first waiver claim of the preseason. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had the pickup:
Johansson spent the past three seasons as Andrei Vasilevskiy’s backup in Tampa Bay. He went 11-10-2 with a 3.29 goals-against average and an .884 save percentage last season, part of a 32-23-10 career record with the Lightning across 70 games.
That gives Ullmark experienced depth behind him now that Merilainen is gone. Johansson will carry a $25,000 cap hit while in the minors, according to PuckPedia.
Merilainen was ticketed for a bigger role in Vancouver anyway. The Canucks have struggled to replace an oft-injured Thatcher Demko, and three different goalies logged at least 20 games for them last season. Kevin Lankinen finished 11-27-5 with an .876 save percentage in 47 appearances.
He went 8-10-1 with an .860 save percentage in 20 games with Ottawa last year, a step back from an 8-3-1 record and .925 save percentage the season before. The Senators re-signed him to a one-year deal in July, four years after his pro debut in their system.
Buffalo drafted Johansson 61st overall back in 2014 but never got him into an NHL game. He’ll try to carve out a role in his fourth organization instead.
Timing lines up with the rest of the league here. Teams have until Monday at 5 p.m. ET to set their Opening Night rosters, and goaltending depth was one of the last boxes left for Ottawa to check before the regular season starts.
