Prospect Info: Jonas Johansson (2014, 61st) – '18-19: Cincinnati #31 (ECHL)

[K8fool]

Portillo 6'6"
Luukkonen 6'4"
Johansson 6'5"
Ullmark 6'4"

The Sabres have a lot of goaltending. 25 ft 7 in to be precise.

I think the plight of one crater hutton explains the physical attributes .. He is tecnically sound just cant cover high on his knees or cover the corners unless he plays perfect..which he does sometimes... Really shows what a focused freak hasek was..maybe carter should abandon all normal technique and just dominek..

 

[K8fool]

TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League

 

[SabresSharks]

Dumps on the guy exactly 2 months ago, and bumps this thread to give him credit fur a nice run.

Kudos, Chain.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Goalies are strange creatures. It's why I never want to overpay for one or draft one in the early rounds. One season they're dominating and the next their career is in jeopardy. 10th rounder becoming the best goalie of all time..madness.

Anyone who isn’t a goalie doesn’t really know why goalies develop the way they do.

Reinhart wants to be better? He goes and power skates, works on his shot, lifts.... all physical.

Goalies are 90% mental, which is why people day things like voodoo. To get better as a goalie, you don’t go workout. It’s technique work, transitioning to unconscientious reactions, understanding patterns, etc.

It takes longer, and frankly, it’s a lot harder. I love the position but there are plenty of days I wish I was just a forward....

 

[old kummelweck]

Which version? Sober and supported and well? Or the other?

He seems athletic and instinctual like both versions.

 

[Kyndig]

I wonder how much of it is a mirage for Hammond and Johansson to have turned their game around because of the insane defensive depth they have. Much in the same way you could plug joe schmoe into that Islanders team and have him post a .920

 

[Chainshot]

Dumps on the guy exactly 2 months ago, and bumps this thread to give him credit fur a nice run.

Kudos, Chain.

I am not intractable. He has cleaned up his game and while the defense in front of him is very good, he is making the saves he is supposed to make and even some that he’s probably not. That sort of growth is excellent.

Der Jaeger mentioned it being mental. Seems like JJ has ironed that out and his play is very much improved.

 

[Chainshot]

I wonder how much of it is a mirage for Hammond and Johansson to have turned their game around because of the insane defensive depth they have. Much in the same way you could plug joe schmoe into that Islanders team and have him post a .920

I’m sure it doesn’t hurt to play behind that defense, but it does seem like they’re both making some stops that are just game defining. I think of that back of the heel save Hammond made while laying on his face as an example.

 

[SabresSharks]

I am not intractable. He has cleaned up his game and while the defense in front of him is very good, he is making the saves he is supposed to make and even some that he’s probably not. That sort of growth is excellent.

Der Jaeger mentioned it being mental. Seems like JJ has ironed that out and his play is very much improved.

The more shots we have at developing a legit starting goalie the better, because even the most promising ones often fall short, and unheralded ones succeed. It's nice to have a couple of possibilities in our two Swedes, instead of having all our eggs in the 6K basket.

 

[Chainshot]

JJ's first win against a motivated Jets team today.

I'm not comfortable with him in net yet, but he's come a long way since the start of the season.

 

[UnleashRasmus]

JJ's first win against a motivated Jets team today.

I'm not comfortable with him in net yet, but he's come a long way since the start of the season.

He's at least in line to get a shot at the back up job. It's at least a healthy option and a cheaper alternative than holding onto Hutton for another year.

 

[dortt]

the 2014 draft is starting to look like a very good one now

Reinhart, Oloffson, and now JJ is starting to emerge

 

[joshjull]

Ullmark must be ready

 

[Chainshot]

Ullmark must be ready

Sid's backhand slapped him 90-minutes down the Thruway.

 

[Royisgone]

Sid's backhand slapped him 90-minutes down the Thruway.

He should have stopped 3 of the 4 last night agains the Penguins IMO. He hasn't looked NHL ready in any game he played for the Sabres. Not that Hutton is any better.

 

[Bendium]

It was good for us to get a look at where he is at in his development and for him to get a look at what he needs to do to get their. He looked like their is something their but he is not ready yet. He has been a slow developer, so likely a NHL backup is where he is heading in another year or two. I did not see enough to make me comfortable with the idea of going into next year with him backing up Ullmark. I would make a trade this off season for another goaltender near Ullmark's point in development and let them fight for starts. You could also sign a UFA goalie to a 2-3 yr term while we await prospect development (as long as it is a legit starter, not another Hutton tweener.) So as I see next year it should be:

NHL - Ullmark + New Goalie
AHL - Johansson + Hutton if you can't trader him, UPL if you can.
ECHL - UPL

 

[Chainshot]

It was good for us to get a look at where he is at in his development and for him to get a look at what he needs to do to get their. He looked like their is something their but he is not ready yet. He has been a slow developer, so likely a NHL backup is where he is heading in another year or two. I did not see enough to make me comfortable with the idea of going into next year with him backing up Ullmark. I would make a trade this off season for another goaltender near Ullmark's point in development and let them fight for starts. You could also sign a UFA goalie to a 2-3 yr term while we await prospect development (as long as it is a legit starter, not another Hutton tweener.) So as I see next year it should be:

NHL - Ullmark + New Goalie
AHL - Johansson + Hutton if you can't trader him, UPL if you can.
ECHL - UPL

It's interesting that JJ at the NHL level was akin to UPL at the AHL level - both had moments where you can see the talent and yet there is a ways to go for both. Jonas is one of the few prospects who have outpaced my expectations this year, hopefully he can head down to Rochester to provide the goaltending they need that they haven't been getting.

 

[CrazyPsycho]

It's interesting that JJ at the NHL level was akin to UPL at the AHL level - both had moments where you can see the talent and yet there is a ways to go for both. Jonas is one of the few prospects who have outpaced my expectations this year, hopefully he can head down to Rochester to provide the goaltending they need that they haven't been getting.

I would say its extremely rare for a goalie to come up and just immediately be good, it takes time to get the speed of the game down. I still think hes ahead of Hutton. But its fine for him to go back down

 

[Chainshot]

I would say its extremely rare for a goalie to come up and just immediately be good, it takes time to get the speed of the game down. I still think hes ahead of Hutton. But its fine for him to go back down

It is a voodoo position and there are non-linear parts of their development. I remember thinking Ullmark took almost 2 years to recover from his hip surgeries to be back to where he looked prior. JJ is just a year off from his so that's potentially a factor. They put him into a bad spot (much like they did with UPL during Ullmark's injury) and he was overwhelmed.

Here's hoping that unlike many of the skaters, JJ goes down and uses this experience to be even better at the AHL level. They could use it.

 

[Bendium]

It is a voodoo position and there are non-linear parts of their development. I remember thinking Ullmark took almost 2 years to recover from his hip surgeries to be back to where he looked prior. JJ is just a year off from his so that's potentially a factor. They put him into a bad spot (much like they did with UPL during Ullmark's injury) and he was overwhelmed.

Here's hoping that unlike many of the skaters, JJ goes down and uses this experience to be even better at the AHL level. They could use it.

He definitely got his first shot at NHL action in a worse case scenario on a bad team under enormous winning pressure. Hopefully the experience helps him understand what he needs to work on to take another step. The biggest thing I noticed that makes me wonder about where his recovery is at, is that he seemed to struggle at getting his 5 hole closed and his pads fully to the ice in the butterfly. A lot of his week goals were in the 5 hole region along the ice just under his pads. He also seemed to get caught. especially early, not quite ready or expecting the shot. NHL shooters shoot the puck harder and with less telegraphing or time from first movement to puck release. This is where experience at a particular play level is critical to getting the mind ahead of the game speed.

 

[SundherDome]

His fundamentals looked fine to me and that is encouraging. His downfalls seemed to be sloppy stick work and post coverage, all should be very correctable.
Keep developing Jonas, you are the hero this team needs

 

[Fezzy126]

It's interesting that JJ at the NHL level was akin to UPL at the AHL level - both had moments where you can see the talent and yet there is a ways to go for both. Jonas is one of the few prospects who have outpaced my expectations this year, hopefully he can head down to Rochester to provide the goaltending they need that they haven't been getting.

Mine too. Even if he tops out as a solid AHL contributor long term (a la someone like Leggio) I consider it a win; stability throughout the organization at each position group can help eliminate some of the poor development decisions with rushing prospects.

 

[joshjull]

I’m hoping he really dials in his game before the AHL playoffs. Then can be a rock for the Amerks on a playoff run or at least get past the 1st round. He’s shown in stretches this season in the AHL he has it in him

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Trying to get a line on the Sabres goaltending situation and particularly where (if?) Johansson still fits.

As of today, only Carter Hutton and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are signed to contracts with Linus Ullmark, Johansson and Andrew Hammond all free agents. (Erik Portillo, the other goalie currently in the system, is headed to Michigan.)

After spending the bulk of his first two seasons in North America in the ECHL, Johansson combined with Hammond to give Rochester a strong duo, winning 14 of his 22 appearances, and also played in six games for the Senators.

Is that enough for him to be considered a legitimate NHL prospect, and if so, how much further can he take his game?

 

[Dex]

Not an expert by any means, but here's my opinion. After having been something of a forgotten commodity, Johansson seems to have gotten back on the radar. He improved year over year from 17-18 to 18-19 in Cincinnati, played pretty well in Rochester in 19-20 and his few games with Buffalo were, well, his first NHL action. He'll be re-signed and looks like he's ready for a much bigger role in Rochester this upcoming season. Not sure that UPL is ready for a backup role in Rochester yet, so maybe another year of Hammond or a similarly priced AHL goalie

Ullmark is the presumed starter in Buffalo and thus will be signed as well. Hutton has been dreadful at times over the past 2 years and okay at others. Given the Sabres salary situation and the organization's financial picture, I'd be shocked if he was not the backup again in Buffalo. With one more year on his contract the only other place he could go is Rochester. I doubt that Botts is looking elsewhere at the NHL level.

Miracle scenario - Ullmark owns the starting role and plays well. Hutton does not embarrass himself in a backup role and JJ plays well enough in Rochester with a few call-ups to Buffalo to look like an adequate backup in 21-22.