Erik Johnson Era With Avs Is Over

He will leave as unrestricted free agent July 1

It’s not a surprise, but still a seismic event with the Colorado Avalanche: Erik Johnson, the longest-tenured current player with Avs, will leave the team as an unrestricted free agent July 1.

There will be no more negotiations between the Avs and Johnson, but they were said to be minimal at best. As someone who lives in Southern California, it’s believed Johnson would like to sign with either the Ducks or Kings, but it takes two to tango and nothing is certain.

Johnson believes he has two or three more good years in him, and at a salary befitting someone with his credentials. But the Avs just weren’t prepared to meet his contract desires.

Johnson, 35, played parts of 13 seasons with the Avs, playing 717 games. After many frustrating seasons with Colorado, he stayed healthy all of last season and won a Stanley Cup, playing a regular-shift role with the team.

He was injured in the second half of this past season, but played in the postseason and scored his only goal of the year. He slowly became a real favorite of Avalanche fans, because of his never-give-up attitude, which was probably best exemplified by this play in the 2014 playoffs: