The Lightning Have Found Andrei Vasilevskiy's Replacement
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been reeling to find a goaltender to replace Andrei Vasilevskiy after he went down with a major injury. New reports have indicated they have found the perfect replacement.
Vasilevskiy Goes Down With Major Injury
On September 28th it was announced that goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy would have to miss significant time due to a back injury.
I'm told @TBLightning G Vasilevskiy 88 underwent successful back surgery, he's expected to make a complete recovery in 8-10 week timeframe. #HockeyTwitter
After the announcement, the NHL world went into a frenzy. The extent of Vasilevskiy's injury had not been known before the announcement of surgery. With the injury being long-term term the Lightning would need to replace Vasilevskiy with a true starter.
At the time no good options really seemed available to the Lightning. However, as the preseason continued one player started to separate himself from the rest.
Lightning Name Their Starting Goalie
As the NHL season kicks off tomorrow for the Tampa Bay Lightning announcing a starting goalie was incredibly important. Today they did just that with an expected but still interesting announcement.
Good decision?
Johansson was fantastic in the preseason particularly after Andrei Vasilevskiy was ruled out. He is also the only option between himself, Matt Tomkins, and Hugo Alnefelt with more than 1 NHL start.
While Johansson has generally struggled in his NHL appearances he is still young for a goalie and could turn a corner. If his preseason performances are any sort of indication he could be a suitable stopgap until Andrei Vasilevskiy is able to return.
| POLL | ||
Will Jonas Johansson be a successful starter for the Tampa Bay Lightning? | ||
| Yes | 112 | 39.7 % |
| No | 170 | 60.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
