Article: Marcus Johansson Has To Make the Improbable Happen Again

[Tony Abbott]

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[MNCountryLife]

Marcus will maintain his expectations... why? Because he is playing with Ek.  Even Foligno put up career numbers when playing beside Ek.  Ek does a ton of little things correct to make the players around him better.  Yes, Marcus and Boldy are good players in their own right.  But Ek makes them better.  That is what really good Centers do...

[vonlonster67]

I too have enough confidence in JoJo,  it's the perfect fit. He doesn't have to be spectacular playing with Boldy and Ek. That's why it's a line.

No different putting Hartman with Zucci n KK.

[Up North Guy]

Health is the biggest worry for JoJo

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Excellent piece, particularly the Stephenson comparison.

Quote

All Stephenson needs to do is get the puck in the offensive zone and let his star linemates go to work. That's all Johansson really needs to do.

Johansson isn't particularly crafty, not a great stick handler or overly impressive passer, but he can carry the puck with speed.  Luckily for him, he's playing with 2 guys who are very strong at winning puck battles and corralling passes, whether they are perfect passes or not.

I wasn't a believer in the trade, primarily because Johansson also has poor defensive instincts and plays soft, but Eriksson-Ek does so much for that line that it offsets the weaknesses of Johansson and makes for an exciting and balanced line. When Johansson was good, he was sometimes very good.

I'm not expecting 70 points, but if he can exceed a pace of 55 points per 80 games, he's probably worth his contract. Boldy clearly makes the line a scoring line and that group had excellent chemistry, well beyond what I expected when the trade was made. Hope to see more success for them!

[Velgey]

21 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Johansson isn't particularly crafty, not a great stick handler or overly impressive passer, but he can carry the puck with speed.

Exactly. MoJo is one of the smoothest skaters in the league, even now. After he and Brodin retire, the two of them could become NHL skating coaches.

[Protec]

He's the kind of complimentary guy the Wild need. He can plug into a top six slot or be okay as a 3rd line winger. Maintain is the minimum. The fit seems good, I think it will be a good season.

[M_Nels]

Mojo's speed was noticeable from his very 1st shift and the chemistry with Boldy materialized quickly. What's good about him being paired with Ek & Boldy is that he's not relied on to be the star, premier scoring winger of the line. His speed through the neutral zone creating space for Boldy & Ek was masterful to watch.

As long as he stays healthy I expect more of the same from that line. So d*** ready for the season to start!! Tired of hearing about Chiefs football... 

[Wild4Ever]

I agree we need better from Foligno and Hartman. Boldy is not a superstar, yet. I'm not worried about Faber. Rossi on the other hand, prove it or kick around the minors until he's traded.
As for Marcus Johansson. I agree he disappeared during the Chinese Virus years but I sure did like watching him fit in last year. I think Johansson makes the players around him better so he's plug and play wherever. Looking for more of the same and I sure hope he likes the State of Hockey.

[joebou15]

Color me the Johansson skeptic. I am just not sold that he'll be the guy we saw at the end of last season. Even that surprised me as it was super unexpected. I had to eat a lot of crow after poo-pooing the hell out of the trade.

But that didn't mean Guerin had to go and re-sign the guy, let alone hand over 3 more seasons to him. 

But I digress. If he can be a speedy zone entry guy, that may be enough. But I'm still not sold on him being a long term solution for that line. Age is going to hit sooner than later, and he is a type of player that screams Age Cliff. 

[Sviginak]

Two years, 2M per year. One year at 2M probably wouldn’t have done it and I think it was a reasonable signing to get us through the last two years of the big cap hits. The fit with Boldy and EK I thought was phenomenal, and it still looked pretty good after Ek went down.

[Velgey]

14 hours ago, joebou15 said:

Color me the Johansson skeptic. I am just not sold that he'll be the guy we saw at the end of last season. Even that surprised me as it was super unexpected. I had to eat a lot of crow after poo-pooing the hell out of the trade.

But that didn't mean Guerin had to go and re-sign the guy, let alone hand over 3 more seasons to him. 

But I digress. If he can be a speedy zone entry guy, that may be enough. But I'm still not sold on him being a long term solution for that line. Age is going to hit sooner than later, and he is a type of player that screams Age Cliff. 

I think it is fair to be a skeptic. I hope Evason keeps him on a somewhat short leash in terms of effective and productive play. If it looks like he isn't delivering what's needed, the Wild have have several prospects that deserve a good look in the role. That spot is an ideal one to try out potential Top 6 wingers. You've got a Ek providing the security blanket. Boldy is the offensive driver. Both demonstrate the drive and effort level required at the NHL-level.

[mnfaninnc]

15 hours ago, joebou15 said:

But that didn't mean Guerin had to go and re-sign the guy, let alone hand over 3 more seasons to him. 

Good news, Joe,

It's only 2 more years!

Actually, 2 years at $2m means that the projections Tony is talking about for fantasy are about right.

I thought that Johansson was a completely different player when we traded for him the 2nd time. I never thought that his advertised speed showed up the 1st time around. Perhaps he was injured the whole year and played through it? 

What I like is his acceleration as he quickly gets up to top speed. If all he has to do is carry the puck in, find the open guy and tap in the occasional back door rebound, he should be fine. 

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

If Johansson doesn't hold that spot on Boldy's opposite wing, the Wild's options become Hartman, Freddy Gaudreau, Sammy Walker, and Adam Beckman. If those had worked last year, they probably wouldn't have traded for Johansson to begin with.

Frankly, I'm not sure the 9 games Beckman and Sammy had qualify as a true opportunity to fill that roll but I digress. 

I think Jojo was a deadline driftwood pickup and should have stayed that way despite being impressed by his return to form while playing on that second line. I think we are right to be skeptical on him until he shows us otherwise. Minnesota got burnt pretty badly last time on him and his injury history doesn't suggest he will be immune to the age cliff. I will be pleasantly surprised if he makes it through 82 games this season, it is a mark he has only hit twice in his 12 year career (although he played 60+ for 75% of those seasons).

In postseason I thought Nyquist was the far better player but we just didn't have the money to keep him around sadly. 

Hoping Jojo can keep a decent pace on a full season as he was very good for the overall value of that line. I think both the fantasy projections will be quite low if he can stay healthy. Here's hoping.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

In postseason I thought Nyquist was the far better player but we just didn't have the money to keep him around sadly. 

Hoping Jojo can keep a decent pace on a full season as he was very good for the overall value of that line. I think both the fantasy projections will be quite low if he can stay healthy. Here's hoping.

I would have really liked to keep Nyquist around. He was probably a top 3 forward for the Wild in the games he played and he didn't sign for a ton, but Guerin made his decision on MoJo early and that essentially closed the door on Nyquist.

Guerin probably viewed Nyquist as likely to make $1M-$2M per season more than his offer to MoJo, and he didn't feel compelled to wait until late in free agency and possibly end up with neither, so he made his decision early.

I'm not saying it was the wrong decision, but I would have loved to see Nyquist play that wing position with Boldy and Eriksson Ek for a full season. In the little time we saw him, Nyquist appeared to have very good hockey sense and skill.

[Up North Guy]

From what i saw last year was what many on here are saying. JoJo doesn't stick handle exceptionally but enters the zone with speed. Isn't that what Sammy Walker does also? Maybe Sammy carries on if JoJo gets injured as he often has in recent years.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

2 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I would have really liked to keep Nyquist around. He was probably a top 3 forward for the Wild in the games he played and he didn't sign for a ton, but Guerin made his decision on MoJo early and that essentially closed the door on Nyquist.

Guerin probably viewed Nyquist as likely to make $1M-$2M per season more than his offer to MoJo, and he didn't feel compelled to wait until late in free agency and possibly end up with neither, so he made his decision early.

I'm not saying it was the wrong decision, but I would have loved to see Nyquist play that wing position with Boldy and Eriksson Ek for a full season. In the little time we saw him, Nyquist appeared to have very good hockey sense and skill.

Completely agree that Nyquist was likely the better player and bigger asset but I get why Guerin did what he did in terms of the cap crunch this year. Nyquist signed with Nashville for 3.2, which will likely be a steal but something we can't afford.

 

On another note, hockey writers did a nice piece on the validity of sending Merrill down to the A, for a cap hit of $50,000 instead of 1.2M if Hunt or O'Rourke look ready. It would give a little wiggle room to bring guys up if we could! It might be something to look at closely if those guys are capable.

[Up North Guy]

20 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

On another note, hockey writers did a nice piece on the validity of sending Merrill down to the A, for a cap hit of $50,000 instead of 1.2M if Hunt or O'Rourke look ready. It would give a little wiggle room to bring guys up if we could! It might be something to look at closely if those guys are capable.

I certainly am not against this but I just don't see BG doing it.