Lightning Trade Jonas Johansson To Senators

The Lightning have traded goaltender Jonas Johansson to the Senators in exchange for future considerations.

The move ends a months-long effort by Tampa Bay to find Johansson a new home. General manager Julien BriseBois said on July 1 that the team would work to find Johansson a new NHL organization. That came after the Lightning moved Nick Paul to the Maple Leafs in exchange for the 25-year-old Dennis Hildeby, who is now expected to back up Andrei Vasilevskiy. Johansson was placed on waivers Wednesday and cleared.

Johansson, who turned 31 last week, spent the last three seasons as Vasilevskiy’s backup. His 2025-26 season was a challenging one. He went 11-10-2 with a 3.29 GAA and an .884 save percentage in 25 appearances. The Swede handled a heavy workload in December while Vasilevskiy was injured but rarely played after Vasilevskiy returned.

The Sabres drafted Johansson in the third round, 61st overall, in 2014. He has also spent time with the Avalanche and Panthers organizations. He signed a two-year, $2.5MM extension with Tampa Bay in May 2025, which carries a $1.25MM cap hit and expires after this season. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

For the Lightning, the deal clears a contract spot and Johansson’s full cap hit heading into opening night. For the Senators, it adds additional goaltending depth behind starting netminder Linus Ullmark and offseason addition Samuel Ersson, both of whom are fellow Swedes.