Larsson signs one-year qualifying offer with Sabres

Johan Larsson
Photo credit Photo: Charles LeClaire - USA TODAY Sports

Johan Larsson is returning for his seventh season with the Buffalo Sabres organization.

The team announced on Friday that Larsson has signed his one-year qualifying offer that will play him $1.55 million.

We have signed forward Johan Larsson to a one-year contract with an AAV of $1.55 million.Details: https://t.co/PPv5qirGGJ pic.twitter.com/BKd7wLcd1c

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) July 12, 2019

The 26-year-old is coming off a season in Buffalo where he scored four goals and registered 17 points in 80 games while playing as a depth player.

In his six-year NHL career with the Sabres and the Minnesota Wild, Larsson has appeared in 331 games while scoring 32 goals and picking up 47 assists for 79 points. He was originally drafted by the Wild in the second round (56th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft, and played in one game for Minnesota before being traded to the Sabres as part of the Jason Pominville trade.

Earlier this offseason, there was a report that Larsson would leave the NHL to return to Sweden and play with Brynäs IF, where he had won a Swedish Hockey League championship in 2012. However, that report was shot down relatively quickly by his agent Craig Oster.

Larsson was the only Sabres restricted free agent to not file for arbitration this offseason.

Remi Elie, Jake McCabe, Evan Rodrigues and Linus Ullmark are all scheduled to meet with league arbiters when the hearing period opens on July 20.