Avalanche sign Jonas Johansson

Old pal JoJo returns to the organization!

The Avalanche has brought back former third-string goaltender Jonas Johansson after losing him on waivers to the Florida Panthers in December.

Johansson went 3-2-1 with a 3.73 goals-against average and .885 save percentage in nine games with Colorado while filling in for Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz early in the 21-22 season but was put on waivers when Kuemper and Francouz were both available.

He finished the year as Florida’s third goalie, playing two NHL games and one with their minor league affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.

Johansson’s new contract is for one year at $750,000. He is expected to split time with Justus Annunen in the Colorado Eagles’ net.

Colorado has very little cap space left to work with to end today’s free agent frenzy, but that doesn’t mean their work is done. They still have to replace or return Nazem Kadri, but he probably wants more than the Avalanche can afford at this point. They could make a trade to free up some space, but that will take time, and Kadri is running out of suitors.