Red Wings: Albert Johansson another defenseman competing for job
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Red Wings signed defenseman Albert Johansson to a three-year contract.
This past weekend the Detroit Red Wings signed defenseman Albert Johansson to a three-year entry-level contract with the organization. This comes after Johansson had an impeccable 2019-20 season after being selected back in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Johansson is a nineteen-year-old prospect who was playing in the men’s league over in Sweden, which builds quite the case for promotion in itself. After 2019-20, Johansson was holding his own in the men’s league as a kid and was deemed ready to come over to North America.
With Farjestads BK Karlstad, Johansson played in forty-two games where he scored two goals, added eleven assists for 13 points on the season. He was selected in the second round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and is the second to be signed from the 2019 draft class.
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Red Wings’ defense core continues to grow.
With the addition of Johansson to the Red Wings defense core, they are going to have competition between the defensemen with the NHL roster as well as the AHL roster.
While Johansson is a candidate to spend all of the 2020-21 season with the Grand Rapid Griffins, it breeds competition.
The competition will be amongst young defensemen who are looking to crack a shot in the NHL on the Red Wings roster, which could get interesting given the current state of the roster.
The Red Wings will have twelve defensemen going into the 2020-21 season barring any signings during the Free Agency period, whenever that may be.
Here is how the organization’s defensemen are currently structured:
NHL
AHL
- Dennis Cholowski
- Joe Hicketts
- Albert Johansson
- Brian Lashoff
- Dylan McIlrath
- Jared McIsaac
- Moritz Seider
Given this construction, things are going to change the signing of an impact defenseman might be in the future. Yes, I’m looking at you, Steve Yzerman, make a move and sign Torey Krug! Either way, a signing or not, throwing Johansson into the mix in Grand Rapids, is smart.
Competition amongst Red Wings prospects is good.
Looking at how Johansson was in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) this past season, he seems to be ready to make the jump, and being thrown into competitive waters might be suitable for the youngster as he finds his legs in North America.
The Red Wings should be able to weed through the prospects and begin to figure out which ones are going to be the real deal and which ones may not have been what was expected. Now, Johansson’s signing means that the organization is looking to start experimenting with prospects.
Given this outlook, the Red Wings still have another promising talent in Antti Tuomisto, another second-round pick from the 2019 draft class. It may be worth giving him a look if the Red Wings are genuinely looking to start sifting through the organization’s prospects.
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The Detroit Red Wings signing of Johansson will only add to the competition for a job from the AHL level. Only time will tell and show how Albert Johansson adjusts to North America.