The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton posted a particularly lengthy notebook this afternoon, and in it, he discusses Albert Johansson’s attempt to make the Red Wings’ roster as a player who’s out of waiver-exempt options:
This preseason will be an important one for 23-year-old defenseman Albert Johansson, whom Detroit selected 60th overall in 2019. He’s spent the past two seasons in Grand Rapids with the Griffins, and now, no longer waiver exempt, he will be vying to be one of the defenseman on the Red Wings’ roster come opening night.
“I feel like it’s time for me to take the next step,” Johansson said this afternoon. “Of course, my goal is to take a spot on the roster and play in Detroit this year.” It’s been a process to reach this point, but Johansson believes he’s ready for NHL minutes. “I think since I came over here, we had a good talk, and I knew my first year that I was going to be in Grand Rapids,” he recounts. “And then my second year of course, I just tried to play as best as I could and hopefully get a chance up here. Last year, the defensemen up here stayed pretty healthy, so I didn’t get the chance, but I didn’t think about it too much. I played a lot of minutes down there, which I think was goo for me. Now, it’s a new season, and I think it’s time to take the step.”
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As far as what he’s hoping to get out of tonight’s game, Johansson said, “First of all, it’s going to be fun to play a game again. It’s been a long time. I think it’s just gonna be fun to get out there and get the game started. Of course, it’s the first game, so hopefully it goes well and then we can take it from there.” When asked about the challenge of not trying to do too much, he added, “When you put pressure on yourself, you wanna do a lot and show the coaching staff that I’m ready, but I think the most important [thing] is just to play a simple game, especially in the first one here, so try to keep it as simple as possible.”
