The Andreas Johnsson experiment in Pittsburgh is officially over.

The Penguins placed Johnsson on waivers for the purposes of contract termination yesterday as he plans to move on from the team and the National Hockey League in general.

Johnsson was brought to the Penguins organization this summer on a one year, $800K deal to try and revive his NHL career.

Penguins President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas knew Johnsson very well. Johnsson was an up and coming player for the Maple Leafs during Dubas’ time being the GM in Toronto.

Johnsson broke through to the NHL during the 2018-19 season, where he tallied 43 points in 73 games. He parlayed that rookie success into a new contract that paid him $3.4 million for the next four years.

Johnsson could never rekindle that success, however, and that contract soon became a problem for a cap strapped Maple Leafs team. Prior to the 2020-21 season, Dubas shipped him and his contract off to New Jersey, where Johnsson had a solid 2021-22, but found himself in the AHL last season.

Ever since, Johnsson has not been able to have a consistent NHL gig. He played in 2 games for the Devils last season, and 11 for the San Jose Sharks after he was part of a package to bring Timo Meier to New Jersey.

While in the AHL last season, he put up 30 points in 36 games for Jersey’s AHL affiliate in Utica.

After that, he left in free agency, and signed a “show me” contract with Dubas, now with the Penguins.

Unfortunately, he didn’t show all that much during training camp and the preseason. He was waived in one of several rounds of preseason cuts and did not make the final NHL roster for the Penguins as opening night came.

He was assigned to the organization’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but has yet to appear in any game for the WBS Pens. He played in a pre-season game for the team, but reportedly left afterwards to deal with a personal matter.

His waiving and subsequent termination comes just a day after he was linked to the Swedish Hockey League in rumors. Assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers (and he very likely will), he will be free to sign in the SHL, where he will see a sharp increase in playing time and prominence in his native country.

Once his contract is officially terminated, the Penguins will have three open contract slots (out of 50) within the organization, and would gain an ever so slight amount of relief in Johnsson’s $800K contract, which was a one-way deak.

Johnsson has 48 goals and 68 assists over 259 NHL games in his professional career.

UPDATE: Johnsson has signed with Skellefteå AIK of the SHL on a deal that takes him to 2027.