Penguins cross fingers for rebound, sign winger to one-year contract

Johnsson was an unrestricted free agent following the conclusion of his four-year contract with a $3.4 million cap hit, one he originally signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He reunites with Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh after the pair won a Calder Cup in 2018 together with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. Dubas has also signed all four of Johnsson’s contracts, with his entry-level deal being signed while Dubas was the interim general manager in Toronto in 2015. The other two came while Dubas was GM of the Leafs.

Johnsson got into only two games with the New Jersey Devils last season, going pointless in both contests, but had 9 goals, 21 assists and 30 points in 36 games with the Devils’ AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. After he was traded to the San Jose Sharks as part of the Timo Meier return, he had three assists in 11 games in San Jose.

Johnsson was initially a seventh-round draft pick of the Maple Leafs in 2013 and the second-latest pick in that draft to play more than 100 games in the NHL after MacKenzie Weegar. He played three seasons with the Maple Leafs before he was dealt to the Devils, where he spent parts of three seasons until he was again traded to San Jose as part of the aforementioned Meier trade.

The Penguins have had a busy offseason beyond just their change in management, as they acquired Reilly Smith for a third-round pick before the draft and went all out on July 1st by adding Matt Nieto, Alex Nedeljkovic, Ryan Graves, Noel Acciari, Lars Eller and re-signing goalie Tristan Jarry to a five-year deal. Since then, they have made several cheap depth signings like Johnsson, Magnus Hellberg, Will Butcher and Vinnie Hinostroza. They currently find themselves almost $2.5 million over the salary cap with a couple of smaller restricted free agents left to sign in Drew O’Connor and Ty Smith, but could still look to move money like Mikael Granlund or Jeff Carter.