Avs defenseman Erik Johnson waives no-movement clause

The Colorado Avalanche will not be forced to protect defenseman Erik Johnson from next week’s Seattle Kraken expansion draft, as he has waived his no-movement clause, per The Athletic’s Peter Baugh.

Had Johnson not waived the no-movement clause (he still has a modified no-trade clause), Colorado would have been forced to protect its longest-tenured player from being drafted by the expansion Kraken.

With Johnson unlikely to be drafted by Seattle, the Avs can now protect defensemen Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Samuel Girard and potentially Ryan Graves, depending on their strategy.

Johnson, 33, played in just four games this past season due to an upper-body injury. He is slated to have a $6 million cap hit the next two seasons.

Teams can choose one of two protection strategies — either protect seven forwards, three defenseman and one goalie or eight skaters (forwards and defensemen) and one goalie.

Seattle must draft one player from each team, except the Vegas Golden Knights, for a total of 30 players (at least 14 forwards, nine defenseman and three goalies).

An alternate captain for the Avalanche, Johnson landed in Colorado via a trade with the St. Louis Blues, who had drafted him first overall in the 2006 NHL Draft.

Of his career 304 points, Johnson has 213 with the Avs over 11 seasons. He also has 60 career goals and 153 assists with the burgundy and blue.

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