Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports is reporting that Buffalo Sabres defenseman Erik Johnson isn’t looking to move on from the Sabres and has not approached management for a trade. The 35-year-old is a former Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche and could be in demand according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Johnson was the 2006 first-overall pick, and although he never reached the levels scouts had predicted for him. He has remained a stable defensive defenseman and solid penalty killer throughout his career. He was a good offensive contributor early in his career but hasn’t topped 27 points in a year since the 2013-14 season.
Things could change for Johnson, but at this point, he told Harrington that his focus is on Buffalo, and he doesn’t want to abandon the team midseason. Johnson signed a one-year contract in the off-season as a free agent with an AAV of $3.25MM.
The Sabres entered the season with hopes of competing for a playoff spot but currently sit in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and are 10 points back of the Detroit Red Wings for the final playoff spot.
In other morning notes:
- Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic wrote today that newly acquired Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Lindholm and the team are both comfortable with waiting to see how he adjusts to the team and how the rest of the season and the playoffs go. It makes for both sides given that Lindholm is just four and a half months away from unrestricted free agency and the Canucks have to also consider a potential long-term extension for superstar Elias Pettersson. LeBrun adds that he believes the Canucks want to sign both players long-term and have coveted Lindholm for quite some time. The 29-year-old had an incredible debut with Vancouver, notching two goals in a 3-2 win. However, his second game was a disaster as Lindholm went -4 in a 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins.
- Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic wrote today that he believes that the injury to Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev could prompt Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois to enter the market for a defenseman as there is a possibility that Sergachev could be out for the rest of the regular season due to injury. If the young defenseman is done playing until the playoffs it would open the door for BriseBois to go $8.5 million to go above the cap on LTIR. The issue Tampa Bay might run into is having the assets to make the move given that they don’t have a first-round pick until 2026 and their farm system is one of the worst in the NHL.