DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche acquired Buffalo Sabers’ Jonas Johansson on Saturday to try to bolster their unstable protection.
The Sabers received the draft pick from the sixth round of Colorado in a trade agreed upon the day before. The Sabers had to wait for the results of the COVID-19 tests after the Boston Bruins, their most recent opponent, had four players to enter NHL protocol on Friday.
Buffalo also had to wait for goalkeeper Michael Houser, who was signed on Friday, to clear the waivers to avoid having to call up a junior goalkeeper.
The Avalanche has relied heavily on starter Philipp Grubauer this season, with backup Pavel Francouz on the sidelines of a lower body injury. Hunter Miska has sometimes supplied Grubauer, but has had problems and averages 4.16 goals against.
Miska was recently sent to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League, with Adam Werner retired from the Eagles.
Johansson is 0-5-1 in seven games for the Sabers this season, averaging 3.79 goals against and a savings percentage of 0.884 and has an overall record of 1-8-2. The 25-year-old was a Buffalo pick in the third round in 2014.
He received more playing time with the Sabers after incumbent Linus Ullmark was injured in the lower body last month. Ullmark is expected to miss a few more weeks.
Grubauer has been spectacular despite the heavy workload. He is the first Colorado goalkeeper to start at least 20 of the team’s first 25 games since Semyon Varlamov in 2012-13.
Grubauer, 29, already has 17 wins. The best player of his career is 18, which he has had in each of the last two seasons. The average of 1.82 goals against Grubauer is the first among goalkeepers. It also has four closures.
“It’s amazing to have this trusted goalkeeper,” striker Tyson Jost said. “It’s been great all year. We need it to continue all year.”
Colorado’s defense has also been a big help. The team has held opponents to less than 30 shots in a record franchise of 18 games in a row. In their last six contests, the Avalanche have outscored the teams by a combined margin of 259-116.
The avalanche is 18-8-2 in the middle of the season. His .679 percentage is the third-best mark at midfield since the team moved to Denver.
The Sabers are in sales mode as they slide 0-11-2 and are in danger of extending the playoff drought to an NHL record that coincides with the tenth season.
This is expected to be the first of many Buffalo shops. It’s been three days since freshman general manager Kevyn Adams hinted that a shake-up of the list would come after coach Ralph Krueger was fired.