Jonas Johansson

Johansson spent nearly all of last season with Colorado's AHL affiliate, playing well (14-9-2, 2.33 GAA, .920 save percentage) in the process. The 27-year-old Swede became an unrestricted free agent in July, ultimately signing a two-year, $1.55 deal with the Lightning to serve as the backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy. It's a gig veteran Brian Elliott has held the past couple seasons, and while Johansson is unproven at the NHL level, it would be pretty shocking if he doesn't prove to be an upgrade over Elliott. Of course, there's little fantasy value here unless Vasilevskiy gets injured.

Johansson is expected to be the No. 3 goalie for the Sabres in 2020-21 after recording a 2.28 GAA and a .921 save percentage in 22 games with AHL Rochester last year. He also appeared in six games at the NHL level, going 1-3-1 with a 2.94 GAA and an .894 save percentage. With Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton occupying the top two spots on the depth chart, Johansson likely won't play unless one of the other two goalies picks up an injury. The 25-year-old Johansson could also get time in the minors to continue his development.

Johansson is a highly touted Swedish goalie who will battle for playing time with Scott Wedgewood and Adam Wilcox in the AHL. The 22-year-old goalie spent most of the previous season with ECHL Cincinnati, where he posted woeful numbers, including a 3.13 GAA and .909 save percentage. In seven games with AHL Rochester, he didn't fare any better, turning in a .861 save mark and 3.89 GAA. Johansson has to perform well in camp to win a job with AHL Rochester or otherwise return to the ECHL. The Sabres want Johansson to play a lot of games so they'll put him on a team where he can get a lot of starts.

The 2017-18 season will be Johansson's first full season in North America after splitting the season between Sweden and the AHL the previous season. The former third-round pick is believed to have the potential to be an NHL starter one day, but first needs to gain more experience and get used to the smaller rinks. Depending on his performance, Johansson will spend most of the season with either AHL Rochester or ECHL Elmira.