Article: Marcus Johnasson's Value Is He's Aways In the Right Spot

[Neil Urbanski]

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[Dis-allowed display name]

Nonsense.  I could always be in the right spot and not score, will they pay me $800K?

He takes up a roster spot to produce next to nothing that should go to a young player we think has a future.  NoJo did next to nothing for the better part of two seasons, and then actually had a pulse late in the season and in the playoffs hoping he could fleece someone and play one more year.  It worked because Guerin was smitten and now we are stuck with another 12 months of the NoJo countdown.  

And seriously, how tone deaf is Guerin?  Even if you were sure to sign him, you think you could have waited until you had Kaprisov signed and THEN make a mistake with NoJo?  I mean, bowing out in the first round was bad enough, your first move after Yurov is to kick us when we are down?  There would be ZERO, let me repeat ZERO market for Johansen so it would be nice if you made it look like you tried to find a better option first.

Edited yesterday at 07:18 PM by Dis-allowed display name

[MNCountryLife]

He doesn't put forth his best effort very often.  He played great the first 3 games against Vegas then absolutely disappeared the last 4.  Why do I want a guy on the team that isn't willing to give it everything he has in the stanley cup playoffs.  I'm hoping he spends most of his time in the press box.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

The $800k contract lets them maybe play him on 4th line with Gaudreau, who produced more points per 60 than Johansson did.

PPG is not a great way to look at offensive production when teams are playing a guy like Johansson higher than he deserves. For example, Taylor Raddysh produced 1.67 points per 60 minutes even strength, but played only 12.22 minutes per game. Johansson played roughly 33% more and scored at 1.23 points per 60 even strength--NoJo is also blessed with routinely playing on lines with point producers like Boldy, Eriksson Ek, Rossi, or Zuccarello.

Even with talented linemates, Johansson finished outside of the top 320 forwards in points per 60 even strength, so on average, most teams have at least 10 forwards who are more productive offensively, many of them not being gifted 2nd line minutes.

I'm not going to argue that Johansson is terrible in transition, but he's not good in the defensive zone or offensive zone. I won't get overly upset about an $800k contract, but Hinostroza probably should be playing ahead of him, along with several others.

His defensive ability is overstated. I can understand how he can skate well to help get himself into positions to defend, but he's not hard to play against or pass pucks through. His stick leaves a lot to be desired, and he does get himself out of position in the defensive zone.

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Imyourhuckleberry
Added the points per 60 league ranking

[Citizen Strife]

"But he blocks my favorite AHL callup from being in a 2nd line spot he deserves even if that isn't true or if that player isn't worth it.  I've convinced myself that's true, and that's what matters.  Mojo sucks!"

Edited 22 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[NoJoSux]

No amount of money is worth an aging passenger who plays the wrong way. Guerin is an idiot around half the time at least. 

[Patrick]

Big thanks for writing this article!!!

Mojo is a litmus test for hockey IQ. 

High IQ fans understand he was not intended to be a top 6 guy and was providing surplus value for his contract.

Low IQ fans hate Mojo because BG would rather spend on 4th line grinders than top six talent.  Due to that it only took one injury to push Mojo into the top 6.  Your anger should be directed at BG or possibly the Wild medical staff. (I don't understand how they have not all been fired, two consecutive years of record games missed to injury and NO accountability)

[Sam]

4 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

No amount of money is worth an aging passenger who plays the wrong way. Guerin is an idiot around half the time at least. 

So NoJoSux thinks NoJo sucks? 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

5 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

"But he blocks my favorite AHL callup from being in a 2nd line spot he deserves even if that isn't true or if that player isn't worth it.  I've convinced myself that's true, and that's what matters.  Mojo sucks!"

Are they gonna have Nyquist on the team as well because Johansson has scored at roughly a 4th line pace without him around. Here is the list of forwards who scored more points/60 even strength for the Wild prior to Nyquist joining the Wild.

1. Kaprizov 2.85

2. Zuccarello 2.27

3. Rossi 2.17

4. Boldy 1.78

5. Gaudreau 1.52

6. Foligno 1.52

7. JEE 1.49

8. Hartman 1.35

9. Ohgren 1.16

Yes, Johansson was 10th before Nyquist was brough in.  Basically, it's only 4th line guys who don't score more than him per 60, and Johansson plays more minutes with Rossi, Zuccarello, Boldy or Eriksson Ek than most of these guys do--he has a distinct advantage in being able to tally points over most of the guys who do not get minutes with Kaprizov. Of course, they very rarely play him with Kaprizov because he's not a real scoring threat, so it makes it much easier to defend Kaprizov, or anyone else, with him on the ice.

I bring this up because Johansson has only scored above 1.25 points/60 with the Wild while Nyquist is on the team. I'd be surprised if Yurov and Ohgren aren't better than Johansson for the 25-26 season, along with everyone else listed above. I'm not even saying that he wasn't as good or better than Ohgren last season, but it was close and Ohgren is likely to take a step forward.

If they give him 4th line minutes, I'm not going to be outraged, but if Johansson were to play above 16 minutes again, then there should be significant outrage.

His lines don't shut down scoring from the opposition and he hinders offense, which is why he finished -7 while most of the guys he played with on the Wild finished the season at least at +0. If it was one season, you could claim it's an anomaly, but the prior year, only the injured for most of the season Frederick Gaudreau finished worse than his -15, and his most common linemates all finished at least 10 better in even strength goal differential.

He occasionally has a nice drop pass, but rarely sets up offense with crafty play. He does occasionally put pucks past the goalie when he is fed nice passes in the middle of the ice, but there are 10+ other Wild forwards capable of that.

If his suggested good defensive hockey led to winning hockey, I wouldn't have much to say about him, but he's pretty consistently delivering less than a quality 2nd line player typically can. They Wild have plenty of players who are more capable, but many of them are better suited to checking lines, so they play there. Johansson's limited skillset is what has placed him on the 2nd line for the Wild. He's not capable of delivering solid play on a checking line.

He's a decent press box guy to you could possibly put in if a 2nd line guy goes out, but when the Wild are healthy, he shouldn't be playing above the 4th line in the future. Again, I'm not complaining about the $800k contract, but if he received the limited minutes that his actual play deserves, his points per game would be lower.

I understand that he's only been playing 2nd line because the Wild had been so salary cap strapped. The funny thing is that I agree with you more than most of the people here on lots of things, but if you think that Johansson should play 2nd line minutes in the future, then I'll just have to disagree on this one.

[SkolWild73]

Anyone interested in a game thread like we do for the wild games for this finals?  This game 2 has been a ton of fun and I miss the  threads.

[Enforceror]

32 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

Anyone interested in a game thread like we do for the wild games for this finals?  This game 2 has been a ton of fun and I miss the  threads.

Been busy doing camping and being out on the water but as time allows, I'd be happy to join in.

[Neil Urbanski]

9 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

PPG is not a great way to look at offensive production

Yeah, of course not. It was just to give an idea of what players in that price range produce. That's why I also cited other stats, and used film clips. The analytics come from somewhere, and the Wild like him for some reason, so why?  That's what the article was about.

I also talked about the legitimacy of questioning his deployment. But that's on the team, not on him. 

That said, more than twice as many players will play in the NHL next season as have played 1,000 games ever. It doesn't happen for guys that can't play. 

 

 

 

[NoJoSux]

NoJo sucks and the Wild shoulda drafted Lundell.

I don't know why management and fans are so stubborn on these two obvious truths?

Guerin does at least one aged like old milk deal every year. Fleury being the one exception, he was good last season. NoJo or Goligoski are both way past their prime. Koivu also stunk at the end. 

Apparently, MN can't get guys like Perry to play here. He's still scoring playoff goals and inexpensive. Marchand and other 35yo or older players can do it but Guerin likes the non-factor Euroism NoJo provides which is useless 90% of the time. Good thing Ogie likes him I guess.