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.
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. In the 2000âÂÂ01 season, he represented Norrbotten in the TV-pucken tournament, and played for Kalix HF in Division 1 (Sweden's third highest level). For the 2001âÂÂ02 season, Fransson played for LuleÃÂ¥ HF in the J20 SuperElit junior hockey league.
For the 2002âÂÂ03 season, Fransson made his Elitserien debut for LuleÃÂ¥ HF, but only played three games because of a groin injury. For the 2003âÂÂ04 season, he returned to the LuleÃÂ¥' 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 2004âÂÂ05 season was not as strong as his rookie year, and in the following season, he struggled, and the team did not re-sign him. He and his fellow LuleÃÂ¥ teammate Karl Fabricius signed with Frölunda HC. He began the 2006âÂÂ07 season well despite his team struggling. After Per Bäckman replaced Stephan Lundh as coach, Fransson saw less ice time, and was eventually loaned to ÃÂssät, in the SM-liiga league in Finland.
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 2007âÂÂ08 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 2âÂÂ0 series lead, and eventually lost to HV71 2âÂÂ4. For the 2008âÂÂ09 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 LuleÃÂ¥ for the 2009âÂÂ10 season, amidst some criticism over his past performance, but by mid-December, he had achieved his career best in goals and points. At the end of the season, he had played 54 games, logging 30 points and 11 goals. He was offered a five-year contract to play for LuleÃÂ¥, 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 2010âÂÂ11 season.
On August 3, 2011, he rejoined LuleÃÂ¥ 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 2015âÂÂ16. 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.