A few weeks ago, I picked Anton Johansson as a dark horse to make this roster, with Jacob Bernard-Docker standing in his way. The Detroit Red Wings just finalized their 23-man roster, and Johansson is on it. He didn't just squeak through either. He forced his way past a veteran (even though JBD is injured) with a fresh contract, and did it by playing some of the best hockey of anyone on that back end all preseason.
The proof was in the preseason
Johansson put up five assists over a two-game stretch, four of them coming in a single outing against Pittsburgh. A 22-year-old defenseman consistently making plays against real competition in the exact window where every rep matters most. Todd McLellan said as much directly, crediting Johansson with outplaying the competition. He walked the blue line with ease, got puck on the goalie through traffic, was not afraid to scrap a bit, and was consistent in all of it while playing in every preseason game.
Bernard-Docker, meanwhile, is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body issue. I'm not going to pretend that had zero impact on the timing here. But McLellan's comments came before that injury sealed anything procedurally, and the tape backs him up regardless. Johansson won this job on merit; the IR situation just removed any lingering debate about it. Could the situation change once Andreas Englund clears up what look to be visa issues? Maybe. But if I had to pick between Anton and Axel Sandin-Pellikka, who also made the roster, I'm keeping Anton right now.
Why I think top four could be realistic
Johansson is 6-foot-4, plays a physical game, and showed real ability to move pucks cleanly out of his own zone all preseason, a lot of what Detroit has been missing on the back end down the lineup. He's landed in a seven-man defense group with Seider, Chiarot, Faulk, Albert Johansson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and Wallinder for now, and I don't think he gets buried at the bottom of that group. Size, mobility, grit, and puck skill are a package the normally boosts you up the lineup once a coach gets some proof of it in real NHL minutes.
He's also walking into a blue line that's suddenly very young. Seider is 24. Everyone else pushing for time is 23 or younger, with your vets being Faulk and Chiarot. If Johansson keeps playing the way he did this September, there's a real path to him settling into a top-four role by midseason and sticking there for a long time to come.
I love it when I'm right
The dark horse label doesn't really fit anymore. Johansson beat out a veteran, and he did it with real, repeatable production, and got his own head coach to say so publicly. He made this team with or without the JBD injury. The next question is how much of a role he actually earns once the puck drops on October 2.
Add us as a preferred source on Google