Ex-NHLer Johnsson Ready For SHL Playoffs: ‘I’m Ready For Revenge’ After Mediocre Season
The Swedish Hockey League quarterfinals begins on Friday and perhaps the most anticipated matchup is between fourth-seeded Skellefteå AIK and fifth-seeded Färjestad Karlstad.
Skellefteå, the defending SHL champion, underperformed somewhat this season but still has a star-studded lineup that includes ex-NHLers Andreas Johnsson, Oscar Lindberg, Luke Witkowski and Pär Lindholm, as well as young defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka, the Detroit Red Wings prospect who is poised to go overseas after the playoffs are done.
Agent: Axel Sandin-Pellikka Will Go To North America After Swedish Playoffs
In late January, it was reported that Swedish defenseman Axel
Sandin-Pellikka will play in North America starting next season. Now,
multiple Swedish media outlets are reporting that he could go as early as this spring.
Johnsson, who just completed his second season in Skellefteå after a seven-year stretch in North America. Johnsson recently spoke to Norran, a regional newspaper in northern Sweden, with excerpts published byHockeyNews.se.
“It’s been mixed,” Johnsson said about his two seasons so far back in Sweden. “It hasn’t really gone the way I thought, and when things don’t go right you don’t get that confidence boost you need to build on.”
After 122 points in 273 NHL regular-season and playoff games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks between 2017 and 2023, Johnsson went to the Pittsburgh Penguins training camp on a PTO but failed to make the team.
He eventually joined Skellefteå well into the 2023-24 season. He registered 16 points in 30 regular-season games and then had eight points in 11 playoff games, helping Skellefteå win the SHL title.
Despite a solid off-season of training and being with the team for the full training camp, this season has been a bit more difficult, with 17 points, 28 penalty minutes and a minus-9 rating in 40 regular-season games.
Seattle Kraken Prospect Will Miss Rest Of Swedish League PlayoffsSwedish
center Zeb Forsfjäll, 20, played in 39 of Skellefteå
AIK’s 52 SHL regular-season games but he will miss the playoffs,
according to multiple
Swedish media outlets.
“Sometimes I wonder why I performed better last year when I was in worse shape than I am now,” he pondered. “But it’s a mental challenge.”
But Johnsson, now 30, knows he can make up for that with strong play in the playoffs, as he did last season.
“I feel a strong desire for revenge and I know that everything can turn around quickly,” he said. “I’m in good shape and really want to make a difference. I still believe that I can score 40 to 50 points in a season, so I’m looking forward to showing what I can do, both in the playoffs and in the future.”
Last season, Johnsson was physically engaged in the playoffs and was heavily involved in a wild semifinal series against Frölunda, which was Johnsson’s team prior to going overseas. In Game 6 of that series, Johnsson incurred a match penalty for kneeing and received a two-game suspension.
Skelleftea won Game 7 without Johnsson in the lineup, and then beat Rögle BK in the finals.
Andreas Johnsson suspended 2 SHL playoff games for kneeingIt’s been a wild Swedish Hockey League semifinal series between Skellefteå AIK and Frölunda HC with plenty of goals, lead swings, and four overtimes in the first six games. But despite a few controversial plays, there hadn’t been any suspensions until now. -
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