Get Back JoJo; Jonas Johansson Back in East as Florida Panther

The Jonas Johansson Era in Denver is over. The Florida Panthers, the Eastern Conference’s leading team and the Avalanche opponent of last night, was claimed on waivers from the Avs a short while ago.

The Avs put Johansson on waivers on Sunday, to make room for Pavel Francouz, and the Panthers took him.

JoJo did some good things in his time with the Avs. He went 8-3-2, with respective saves percentages of .913 and .885. He had two pretty bad games on the Avs’ last road trip that crushed his SP some, in Toronto and Ottawa. But, most of the time, he served as a competent backup, and it’s a good tribute to him that the Panthers took him.

Johansson’s departure means Justus Annunen will play a lot more for the Colorado Eagles, and Hunter Miska will be the backup. If my math is right, his departure also means the Avs now have about $25,000 in current cap space.

JoJo won the game against Los Angeles last season that clinched the Presidents’ Trophy. I thought that was his best moment as an Av.

The Avs now will ride Darcy Kuemper and Francouz moving forward. Let’s….hope….there are no injuries to either of them.

All the best to JoJo moving forward. He seemed like a good kid, and wants to succeed. He’s on a good team again to make that happen.

Obviously, Justus Annunen will get more playing time with the Eagles, now that JoJo is gone. He needs a lot of reps before getting a real chance in the NHL, so this development is good news for him. And, Hunter Miska gets to be the backup with the Eagles now too. He was demoted at one point in the season to Utah.

Johansson might have a tough time playing in Florida, with Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight ahead of him. But I’m sure he’ll get a start or two, as Knight has struggled some of late.