Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Marcus Johansson

Minnesota Wild Sign Marcus Johansson To Extension

at CDT | by 6 Comments

A few short days after their season came to its conclusion at the hands of the Dallas Stars, the Minnesota Wild have announced they will be bringing back forward Marcus Johansson into the fold. The contract will be a 2-year, $4MM contract, extending Johansson through the 2024-25 season.

In his second tenure with the Wild, Johansson was a critical forward down the stretch in Minnesota’s playoff hunt. After being acquired from the Washington Capitals at this year’s trade deadline, Johansson played in 20 games, scoring six goals and 12 assists. Just as importantly, Johansson brought his career exceptional possession numbers, providing the Wild a Corsi For % of 52.2.

Heading into this year’s offseason, Minnesota was going to find itself in an increasingly difficult salary cap situation. Due to the past buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the cap penalty will increase from $6.37MM per player to $7.37MM per player, taking almost $15MM away from the Wild’s available cap. Even after signing Johansson, Minnesota still has five players headed for unrestricted free agency (three forwards, and two defensemen) and five players headed toward restricted free agency (three forwards, one defenseman, and one goalie).

Up to this point, taking into account the massive cap penalty given to the Wild due to their past buyouts, General Manager Bill Guerin has done a good job assembling a roster worthy enough to get into the playoffs almost year-in-and-year-out. He will have to continue to remain creative throughout this process, and bringing back Johansson on a relatively cheap contract is one way to get that started.

Wild Notes: Johansson, Eriksson Ek, Sundqvist, Petan

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Wild are hopeful that winger Marcus Johansson will be available for the start of their first-round series against Dallas, relays Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  The veteran was injured earlier in the week on a cross-check from Winnipeg blueliner Neal Pionk but head coach Dean Evason indicated that while the 32-year-old is sore, nothing is broken.  Johansson’s second stint with Minnesota has been quite successful as he had six goals and 12 assists in 20 games after being acquired from Washington just before the trade deadline.  He returned to practice with the team today which is a positive sign for him being able to suit up on Monday.

More from Minnesota:

  • Center Joel Eriksson Ek skated before practice today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, notes Joe Smith of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has missed a little over a week since suffering the injury against Pittsburgh.  Eriksson Ek was given a week-to-week designation so it seems unlikely that he’ll be ready for Monday’s season opener.  His absence is a significant one as not only is he their matchup center against top opponents but he also finished fourth in team scoring, surpassing the 60-point mark for the first time in his career.
  • Forward Oskar Sundqvist also skated today for the first time since suffering also a lower-body injury against Pittsburgh last week, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 29-year-old was acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline and had made a good first impression with Minnesota, collecting three goals and four assists in 15 games before the injury.  It’s unclear at this point if he’ll be good to go to start the series against Dallas but he has not yet been ruled out for Game One.
  • The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Nic Petan cleared waivers today, enabling them to return him to AHL Iowa. Petan played his tenth game of the season Thursday, meaning that he had to pass through waivers to get back to the minors.  The 28-year-old has had another strong season at the AHL level, tallying 60 points in 51 games heading into the final weekend.

Neal Pionk Avoids Suspension, Earns Fine For Cross-Checking

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk has been fined $5,000 for cross-checking Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Johansson during a heated game between the two teams last night, the NHL Department of Player Safety said Wednesday morning. This is the maximum allowable fine under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The incident occurred late in the third period of the game, which the Jets won 3-1. Pionk received a major penalty for cross-checking Johansson, but the league felt that the infraction deserved further punishment.

Johansson was in obvious discomfort after the play, which caused him to fall to the ice. His injury status is currently unknown.

The game between the Jets and the Wild was a physical affair, with other incidents drawing the attention of the league. Wild forward Ryan Hartman is facing a potential suspension for a hit on Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers, which occurred earlier in the game. The league is expected to make a ruling on Hartman’s status later today.

The decision to hold a hearing for one incident but not the other is sure to draw ire from some. Both incidents had some perceived level of intent, depending on who you ask, and both resulted in potential injuries to the opposing players.

Minnesota Wild Acquire Marcus Johansson

at CDT | by 8 Comments

Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin has been clear that he thinks his group deserves an addition at the deadline, and now he’s made one. The Wild have acquired Marcus Johansson from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick.

This is Johansson’s second stint with Minnesota, though he may still have nightmares about his first go-round. After being acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in 2020, the versatile forward would play 36 games for the Wild during the regular season before breaking his arm in a game three playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Surgery and a seven-game elimination followed, ending his time with Minnesota prematurely. Johansson will get to rewrite history this time, joining the Wild ahead of another playoff run.

With a bit of a rebound after some disappointing seasons, Johansson has 13 goals and 28 points in 60 games for the Capitals this season. The left-shot forward can play center in a pinch, and adds another capable NHL option to the Minnesota lineup—one that currently leans heavily on one line to do most of the heavy lifting. Johansson’s goal and point totals would put him fifth on the Wild, who have gotten little production from players like Marcus Foligno and Jordan Greenway.

For Washington, expiring contracts are must-trades unless an extension is possible. The club has already thrown in the towel on this season by trading long-time defender Dmitry Orlov, and might as well sell off anything else that’s not tied down.

Getting a third-round pick for Johansson is a nice return, though it should be pointed out that they invested more than just the one-year, $1.1MM contract he is currently playing on. Last year at this time, it was Washington trading for him at the deadline, sending Daniel Sprong and two draft picks (a fourth and a sixth) to the Seattle Kraken. This is the fifth time he has been traded in his career, and the third at the deadline.

Kevin Weekes of ESPN broke news of the deal on Twitter.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Beckman, Johansson, Regional Rights

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Coyotes have elected to take Toronto’s 2025 second-round pick instead of their 2023 third-round selection to complete last year’s Nick Ritchie trade, reports NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston (Twitter link).  Arizona had until yesterday to make the decision.  This means that Toronto now has three draft picks remaining this season with the other two being later-round selections (fifth round and sixth round).  Meanwhile, the Coyotes now have four second-round selections for the 2025 draft.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Wild announced (Twitter link) that they’ve re-assigned forward Adam Beckman to AHL Iowa. The 21-year-old has been held off the scoresheet in nine games with Minnesota this season but has 18 goals and nine assists in 43 games in the minors.  They now have one spot open on their 23-man roster.
  • We’re at the time of the year when players on expiring contracts being absent is worth keeping track of. However, while the Capitals were without Marcus Johansson for their game this afternoon against the Rangers, NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti relays (Twitter link) that the winger has a non-COVID illness.  Johansson is on an expiring deal that carries a $1.1MM cap hit and has 28 points in 60 games this season which could draw some interest around the league.
  • On the heels of Bally Sports skipping an interest payment earlier this month which is causing some concern for the NHL and the dozen teams with regional rights under that umbrella, another regional broadcaster is pulling the plug. John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal relays that Warner Bros. Discovery, which operates AT&T SportsNet and has a stake in Root Sports, is intending to divest its interests in regional sports rights by the end of March. Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal adds that they’re proposing to the impacted teams (Vegas, Seattle, and Pittsburgh are the NHL ones) that they take back the rights at no fees as long as they sign a release stating there are no future financial claims against the network.  With nearly half the league having their regional rights in question, it’s quite possible this could materially affect the salary cap moving forward.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Marcus Johansson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Washington Capitals are keeping Marcus Johansson around, re-signing the free agent forward to a one-year, $1.1MM contract.

Johansson, 31, has a long, history with the Capitals, having played the first seven seasons of his career with the organization. A first-round pick in 2009, he was a big part of their offense for years, before eventually getting dealt to the New Jersey Devils for a pair of draft picks. The Capitals would go on to win the Stanley Cup the following year, while Johansson dealt with an injury-riddled campaign in New Jersey.

It’s been a very inconsistent ride since then, with the Swedish forward playing for the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, and Seattle Kraken following his time with the Devils, before a deadline trade this year brought him back to Washington. While he’s not in quite the same role as he once was, Johansson is still a great possession player that can bounce around a lineup, filling in wherever necessary.

For $1.1MM, he poses no risk to the Capitals, as his entire contract can be buried in the minor leagues if necessary. For at least the first part of the season that likely won’t be necessary, while the team deals with injuries to several key forwards, but it is not out of the question for Johansson to be scratched at some point near the end of the year, if he’s not providing better performance than Washington’s younger options.

East Notes: Senators, Capitals, Johnson

at CDT | by 5 Comments

While the Senators made a big splash yesterday with the acquisition of winger Alex DeBrincat, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays (Twitter links) that there are still a pair of priorities for Ottawa – adding a defenseman and moving Matt Murray with talks intensifying on that front.  He adds that winger Connor Brown and blueliner Nikita Zaitsev could be players on the move.

Brown isn’t likely to sign an extension after suggesting he’d like to test free agency when he’s eligible next summer and at $3.6MM, he’d carry some trade value after being a key two-way player.  Zaitsev, meanwhile, has two years left at a $4.5MM AAV and might be used to match salaries in a move for a defender.  Murray blocked a trade to Buffalo on Thursday but the Senators are still looking to get out from the two years at $6.25MM per season left on his deal but will almost certainly need to pay down a fair-sized portion of that to facilitate a move.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Capitals have interest in retaining pending unrestricted free agents Justin Schultz, Marcus Johansson, and Johan Larsson, notes Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription link). With Schultz, however, the 32-year-old blueliner would need to take a pay cut from the $4MM he made over each of the last two years for a deal to be done.  Schultz is coming off a bit of a quiet year by his standards where he notched 23 points in 74 games.  The other two forwards were trade deadline acquisitions and fit in well with El-Bashir highlighting that the possibility of Larsson returning could be tied to Carl Hagelin’s situation with his availability for next season up in the air.
  • Sabres prospect defenseman Ryan Johnson will make his decision on whether or not to turn pro following their upcoming Development Camp, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The 2019 first-round pick has one more year of college eligibility remaining and the team could interpret him staying at the University of Minnesota as an indication that he may be interested in testing free agency next summer.  If that’s the case, Buffalo could look to move his rights in the coming weeks.  If Johnson opts for free agency next August and his rights aren’t traded, the Sabres would receive the 64th pick in the 2024 draft as compensation.

Capitals Acquire Marcus Johansson

at CDT | by 5 Comments

Earlier today, it was reported that the Capitals were among the teams showing interest in winger Marcus Johansson.  They have indeed landed the veteran in a trade with Seattle, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link).  Samantha Pell of the Washington Post reports (Twitter link) that winger Daniel Sprong and draft picks are going to the Kraken.  Johnston adds (via Twitter) that the picks are a 2022 fourth-rounder and a 2023 sixth-rounder.

The 31-year-old is no stranger to Washington having spent the first seven years of his career there after he was their first-round pick (24th overall) back in 2009.  However, while he was a key secondary scorer during his stint with the Caps, Johansson has certainly bounced around since then and hasn’t been able to produce with any level of consistency.

After playing with five teams over the past three seasons, Johansson inked a one-year, $1.5MM deal with Seattle back in August with the hopes that he’d be a secondary producer for them.  That hasn’t exactly happened, however, as he has just six goals in 51 games although he has chipped in with 17 assists which put him in a tie for seventh in team scoring.  He has averaged 16:35 per game this season and it’s quite unlikely he’ll play anywhere close to that in his second stint with the Capitals as he’ll be bottom-six forward depth for them.

Per CapFriendly, Washington has just over $63K in cap space so there needed to be some roster moves made to fit Johansson’s salary.  Sprong’s inclusion, coupled with Seattle using their final retention slot to retain half of Johansson’s AAV, allows the Capitals to remain cap-compliant.

Meanwhile, Sprong is an interesting addition for Seattle.  The 25-year-old has eight goals and six assists in 47 games with Washington this season and is still controllable through restricted free agency for two more years.  He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time this summer and is only a year removed from picking up 13 goals and 20 points in 42 games.  That would have likely pushed his arbitration value higher than what the Capitals were willing to pay which would have made him a non-tender candidate.  Now, he’ll have a chance to make a good first impression with the Kraken for the stretch run.

Capitals Notes: Johansson, Stevenson, Van Riemsdyk, Defense Target

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Capitals are among the teams that have shown interest in Kraken winger Marcus Johansson, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link).  The 31-year-old has had a bit of a quiet year in Seattle with six goals and 17 assists in 51 games but is someone that Washington is certainly familiar with as Johansson spent his first seven NHL seasons with the Caps.  Cap space is next to non-existent for them, however (just $63K per CapFriendly) so finding a way to fit in Johansson’s $1.5MM cap hit will be a bit tricky and Seattle has already used two of their three retention slots in the Calle Jarnkrok and Mark Giordano trades.

More from Washington:

  • The Capitals are among the teams interested in college free agent goaltender Clay Stevenson, relays Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 23-year-old technically just wrapped up his freshman year at Dartmouth and did well, posting a 2.70 GAA along with a .922 SV% in 23 games.  El-Bashir adds that several NHL teams are interested in the netminder.  Dartmouth isn’t among the teams in the NCAA tournament so Stevenson is someone that can sign at any time.
  • Washington has placed defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk on injured reserve, notes Roman Stubbs of the Washington Post. He suffered an upper-body injury on Friday against Carolina and will be eligible to return on Saturday against New Jersey.  The 30-year-old has played in 58 games this season, collecting 14 points while averaging nearly 18 minutes per game.
  • Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press suggests (Twitter link) that a low-cost left-shot defenseman is something Washington would like to add. Michal Kempny is up with the big club but carries a $2.5MM AAV; bringing in a lower-cost depth option could allow them to send Kempny back to the minors (pending waivers) which would help free up a little bit of cap space.

Injuries Delaying Roster Decisions For Islanders, Kraken

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The NHL season is now underway and yet the well-documented roster crunches of the New York Islanders and Seattle Kraken have gone completely unnoticed even as the league’s 23-man roster deadline came and went. What happened? Well, it may seem counterintuitive, but both teams have been helped out by injuries and health-related absences. However, they aren’t out of the woods yet and may only be delaying the inevitable.

In New York, the Isles knew that they would receive salary cap and roster flexibility by placing defenseman Johnny Boychuk on Long-Term Injured Reserve, but veteran forward Matt Martin also landed on IR. While just one unexpected injury may not seem like a lot, it has had a massive impact on how the Islanders prepare for the start of the season. While the club was successfully able to pass pricier veterans Richard Panik and Thomas Hickey through waivers and on to AHL Bridgeport, they have not yet had to make the tough decision between any of their other more attractive fringe players. Once Martin returns, someone else has to go. Martin’s fourth line replacement Ross Johnston appears to be safe as the apparent next man up, but is at least in the mix. Serviceable veteran Leo Komarov is not expected to be in the Isles’ Opening Night lineup on Thursday, but has been a valuable depth player for years in New York and is even more attractive to other teams now that he is on an expiring contract. Young Kieffer Bellows, whose new contract was finally registered with the league, would also be very interesting to other teams and represents the Islanders’ best top-six substitute. There is no easy choice as all three are more likely than not to be claimed, which explains why GM Lou Lamoriello has reportedly been exploring the trade market.

Things are a little more dire in Seattle, where the league’s newest team would like to keep their Opening Night roster intact but stand little chance of doing so. Already the team has had to make some risky waiver placements, including Kole Lind and Cale Fleury, but have been lucky thus far. Dennis Cholowski’s time on the wire could yield a different result, but even that loss would pale in comparison to what is coming down the line if the Kraken don’t make a move first. The lone holdover from the team’s recent mini-breakout of positive COVID-19 tests, veteran forward Calle Jarnkrok will be available sooner rather than later. Marcus Johansson, placed on injured reserve today, will likely be the next one back and Colin Blackwell is only expected to miss the first month of the season. Further down the road, the team will also need room for Yanni Gourde, who is expected back closer to December. That’s four valuable veterans forwards who all need spots on the Seattle roster, which already sits at 23 members with only one – Lind – that can safely be sent to the minors. On one hand, these early injuries allow the Kraken to take a look at some players who otherwise would not have made the roster, like waiver claim Alex Barre-Boulet for example. On the other hand, these “extra” players will eventually need to be waived, traded, or force the team to trade others instead. Lind and Barre-Boulet seem like easy cuts, but that is just two of four. Would Ryan Donato, who scored the first goal in franchise history on Tuesday, clear waivers? Would young grinder Nathan Bastian? Veteran center Riley Sheahan? The Kraken have a number of questions left to answer and their early injuries have only kicked the can down the road. The longer they wait, especially if the team is playing well, the less likely their fringe players are to clear waivers and the less likely that potential trade partners may be to make a deal rather than wait them out. GM Ron Francis and company have their work cut out for them.

While the preseason trade market remained quiet and there were no earth-shattering waiver claims, this is at least partially due to some unexpected injuries in New York and Seattle. At some point these situations will need to be resolved and, one way or another, players will wind up changing hands.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top