Red Wings sign Anton Johansson to a three-year, entry-level contract

Another Swede is coming into the fold in Hockeytown.

On Thursday, the Detroit Red Wings announced they have signed defenseman Anton Johansson to a three-year, entry-level contract.

The deal is set to kick in next season. In the meantime, Johansson will report to the Red Wings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, on an amateur tryout.

Johansson was originally taken by Detroit in the fourth round, 105th overall, of the 2022 NHL Draft. He came onto the Red Wings’ radar while coming up through the Leksands IF in Sweden. Since making his debut with the club’s Swedish Hockey League team during the 2021-22 season, the Stockholm native has been a consistent figure on the blue line.

This past season, Johansson notched a career-high five goals and five assists with Leksands in 46 games, registering a plus/minus of -1 in the process.

The right-handed shooting defender has been known to be a solid puck-mover from the back end, but doesn’t allow that to overshadow is two-way game. The 20-year-old has a little bit of a nasty side to him. He totaled 50 penalty minutes throughout this season, leading the National Under-20 league with 94 PIM during the 2022-23 campaign, in just 32 games. At 6-foot-4 and nearly 200 pounds, he has some size utilize.

Johansson also has experience playing for Sweden on the international stage. Along with playing a few games for the Under-19 team, he played in all seven games during the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, which saw Tre Kronor fall to Team USA in the gold medal game on home ice.

Johansson is the cousin of San Jose Sharks forward, Alex Wennberg.

Johansson joins a Red Wings system that is loaded with Swedish blueliners. Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson have worked their way onto the NHL roster full-time this year, while William Wallinder is still grinding it out in Grand Rapids.