2 Veteran Goalies Top List Of Waiver Wire Additions On Wednesday
Everyone applauded the NHL's decision to cut down on the number of preseason games this year. Nobody wants to see players get injured in these exhibition games that don't count. Yet... Injuries have been piling up around the league. Just ask the Buffalo Sabres.
Things were looking even more troublesome for the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night when starting goalie Dan Vladar was forced to leave the exhibition game in the first period with an undisclosed injury. Fortunately, the news today was that it wasn't serious and the Flyers feel they "dodged a bullet."
Nevertheless, any type of goaltender problems at this stage of the year will be taken seriously by their clubs. Teams will certainly be keeping an eye on the waiver wire when necessary.
And with that, we have two veteran goalies with a fair amount of NHL experience who were placed on waivers on Wednesday: Pheonix Copley and Jonas Johansson.
NEWS: The Lightning have placed G Jonas Johansson on waivers.#TBLightning | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/PWc07Lye5J
— The Bolt Report (@BoltReport_TB) September 23, 2026
Johansson, 31, has been the top backup in Tampa the past three years with the Lightning. He started 23 games last season and posted an .884 save percentage and a 3.29 goals-against average. He has made 105 appearances in the NHL across seven seasons.
Johansson bumped out of the backup role in Tampa, placed on waivers
However, their acquisition of Dennis Hildeby from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade for forward Nick Paul this summer has squeezed Johansson out of the picture. He holds a $1.25 million salary this season (his cap hit drops to $25,000 if assigned to the AHL).
Copley, 34, has 78 starts in the NHL over parts of eight seasons, with an .898 Sv%. But he hasn't been a factor the past three years with the LA Kings, appearing in only 10 games total over that time, and just one game in each of the last two seasons, spending most of his time with the Ontario Reign in the AHL.
The last time he saw significant action at the top level with the Kings was in 2022-23 when he made 37 appearances, 35 starts, and posted a .903 Sv%.
He signed a one-year, 850,000 deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier this summer. But that was before they signed Cam Talbot less than two weeks ago. He will serve as Jet Greaves' backup.
As for the Flyers, for now they may be off the hook. But somewhere, with some team, a goalie injury could come along when they least expect it, and perhaps one of these two will get a call.