Johan Fransson

Johan Fransson (born February 18, 1985) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player, who last played for Leksands IF in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), where he was a defenceman. He also played in leagues in Finland, Switzerland, and Russia. Although he was drafted and traded as a prospect in the NHL three times, he has never played a regular season NHL game.

Playing career Fransson played bandy in Kalix; his team won the Swedish championship for 13-year-olds in 1998. He attributes his skating ability to his bandy background. For the 2003–04 season, he returned to the Luleå' roster, and was nominated for Elitserien Rookie of the Year. In his first playoff game, Fransson suffered a concussion after being checked by Färjestads BK's Peter Nordström. He returned to play one game in the series, but his team was eliminated from the playoffs. He was praised as having a bright future. His 2004–05 season was not as strong as his rookie year,

In 2007, Fransson was traded to Linköpings HC for Oscar Ackeström. Although he only played eight regular season games and 15 playoff games without scoring a point, his new team reached the Swedish Championship finals, where they lost to Modo Hockey. For the 2007–08 season he played 48 games, scoring a career high five goals and fourteen points. He also made his debut for Tre Kronor. Fransson helped Linköping reach the Swedish Championship finals for the second year in a row; the team blew a 2–0 series lead, and eventually lost to HV71 2–4. For the 2008–09 season, Fransson did not sustain his success; he was released in January, and signed with HC Lugano of the Swiss National League A, where he scored two goals and logged five points in seven regular games, and two goals in four playoff games.

Fransson returned to Luleå for the 2009–10 season, amidst some criticism over his past performance, but shortly afterward, he used a contract clause to sign with the HC Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in Russia, and a few weeks later Fransson signed his third contract of the off-season with the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL).

On October 13, 2010, Fransson was loaned by the Kings to SKA St. Petersburg in Russia. where he played the rest of the 2010–11 season.

On August 3, 2011, he rejoined Luleå HF, where he stayed until the remainder of the 2013-14 season. He then headed to Switzerland, signing with the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the top-flight National League A (NLA) for 2014-15, before moving on to fellow NLA team Genève-Servette HC for 2015–16. His tenure with Geneva ended at the conclusion of the 2019 playoffs. Fransson played 154 regular season games with Geneva, putting up 74 points, and 25 playoffs games (9 points) over 4 seasons.

As a free agent, Fransson returned to his homeland and the SHL, agreeing to a four-year contract with newly promoted Leksands IF on April 29, 2019.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2000–01 Kalix HF SWE.3 190668 ————— 2001–02 Luleå HF J18 Allsv 52020 30000 2001–02 Luleå HF J20 2944828 20004 2002–03 Luleå HF J18 Allsv 20002 ————— 2002–03 Luleå HF J20 2224665 ————— 2002–03 Luleå HF SEL 30000 ————— 2003–04 Luleå HF J20 502210 ————— 2003–04 Lulea HF SEL 4433628 20004 2004–05 Luleå HF J20 11120 71234 2004–05 Luleå HF SEL 4316730 30000 2005–06 Luleå HF SEL 5035874 61126 2006–07 Frölunda HC SEL 3506618 ————— 2006–07 Ässät SM-l 60112 ————— 2006–07 Linköpings HC SEL 80004 150002 2007–08 Linköpings HC SEL 48591424 1605516 2008–09 Linköpings HC SEL 40371024 ————— 2008–09 HC Lugano NLA 72352 42020 2009–10 Luleå HF SEL 5411193026 ————— 2010–11 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 386101622 100222 2011–12 Luleå HF SEL 481192012 51122 2012–13 Luleå HF SEL 55381112 15010106 2013–14 Luleå HF SHL 385101520 20002 2014–15 Rapperswil–Jona Lakers NLA 324162022 ————— 2015–16 Genève–Servette HC NLA 397152212 1101118 2016–17 Genève–Servette HC NLA 455101552 40330 2017–18 Genève–Servette HC NL 400191938 41014 2018–19 Genève–Servette HC NL 306121814 61342 2019–20 Leksands IF SHL 41381114 ————— 2020–21 Leksands IF SHL 221458 20000 SHL totals 52939104143304 662171938 NL totals 193247599140 36491336

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2004 Sweden WJC 7th 63032 2005 Sweden WJC 6th 600012 2013 Sweden WC 101454 2014 Sweden WC 100004 2016 Sweden WC 6th 70332 2018 Sweden OG 5th 40222 Junior totals 1230314 Senior totals 31191012