What can Albert Johansson bring to the Detroit Red Wings next season?

I caught up with the Red Wings prospect, his coach, and pulled some video.

Steve Yzerman is well known for not sharing his plans.

And when Yzerman does tip his hand in a public setting, he rarely explains why or how he came to that respective decision.

So we have to take the snippets when we get them.

And today, in April, we know that Yzerman intends to have defenseman Albert Johansson in the NHL next season. Yzerman said as much at his end-of-season media availability, noting that the 23-year-old no longer being waiver exempt effectively made him an NHL or bust player with the Detroit organization for next season.

Yzerman added the requisite modifiers, how Johansson would have to earn his spot and such, but the reality is the defenseman represents a young asset that Yzerman isn’t going to risk losing for free.

Johansson has also never stepped foot in the NHL, a side effect of Yzerman overloading the Detroit roster with older defenders, like Justin Holl, who will have to be moved out this summer.

So Johansson played the last two seasons in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins, acting a mobile, puck-moving defender, typically in a top-four role. He’s currently playing in the AHL playoffs with the Griffins, who lead their first-round series 1-0 against the Rockford IceHogs with Game 2 on Wednesday.

Johansson, paired with Simon Edvinsson, played 25:21 in Game 1 and was on the ice for two of Grand Rapids three goals. It was the second busiest game of his AHL career, after he logged 25:59 in a game against the Milwaukee Admirals on March 9.

Before that game, I drove out to Grand Rapids last Friday to talk with Johansson about his season, his progression, and how he’s potentially going to fit in the NHL next season.

“It’s been a different year than last year, I think I took some growth with the new coaching staff,” Johansson said. “The team was better, so the season wasn’t better, and I think that led to better growth. It’s easier to play when you’re winning and playing good hockey, so it let me take more steps than the year before.”