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  • It's Time to Talk About Marcus Johansson


    Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
    Luke Sims

    This is not the first rodeo for Minnesota Wild fans and Marcus Johansson

    Johansson first found himself in a Wild sweater during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign. Minnesota thrust Johnasson into a top-line center spot to replace a traded Eric Staal. That move was not good for Johansson or the Wild, and the player moved on after that season. Johansson signed with the Seattle Kraken that offseason. After his one-year stint in Seattle, Johansson returned to where he started his career with the Washington Capitals as a former first-round pick who spent seven seasons in the nation's capital.

    After registering 28 points in 60 games in Washington, Bill Guerin sent a third-round pick to the Capitals for Johnasson at the trade deadline last season. Johansson had one of the worst seasons of his career during the first trip to Minnesota. Many people viewed the deal as pretty meh for the Wild, and not much was expected out of Johansson during his second stint in St. Paul. 

    It turns out that playing with Matt Boldy helps a player put up points. The Boldy-Johansson duo was electric to end the 2022-23 regular season. Johnasson had one of the best stretches of his career, with 18 points in 20 games to close out that year. The pair led the team in points over that span, while Boldy potted a ridiculous 15 goals in 20 games after Johansson joined his line. 

    That pairing wasn’t nearly as effective in the playoffs, but Guerin had seen enough to give Johansson a two-year, $4 million extension. He should be fine as long as he’s with Boldy, right?

    Welp. 

    We’ve seen what happens when he’s not next to Boldy this year. When Boldy missed seven games with injury, Johansson has not been the same player he was last year. JoJo has a single goal and 11 assists through 27 games this season. The 33-year-old has consistently logged top-six minutes for the Wild this year, but his production has not matched that of a top-six forward. 

    Johansson is on pace to score three goals this year. The Swede has a 36-point scoring pace, which would be worse than last season. Still, it’s pretty solid compared to what he’s done over the last few seasons. Johansson has struggled to score, but the real kicker is his struggle to play a full season. 

    It’s no surprise that Johansson had his highest point total in the last eight years last year when he played 80 games with the Caps and the Wild. The last time JoJo played a full 82-game season was with the Capitals in 2016-17. JoJo put up a career-high in goals (24) and points (58) that year playing with Nicklas Backstrom (the center, not the former Wild goalie). 

    But injuries have plagued Johansson after that season. Injuries were most likely the cause of his poor performance in Minnesota the first time.  

    Johansson has not been injured this season. So what gives with his lack of production?

    JoJo has never been a goal scorer. He’s a playmaker and thrives when he has goal-scorers to play with. If you look at the best stretches of his career, they’ve all been with elite goal-scoring talent beside him. He had Alexander Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie in Washington and Boldy in Minnesota. 

    Joel Eriksson Ek, Johansson, and Boldy have been the Wild’s third-most deployed line in terms of time on ice. Eriksson Ek and Boldy are among the top four on the team in goals, with Ek leading the way. 

    Johansson’s underlying stats are also pretty solid. Johansson is middle of the pack in GF%, xGF%, CF%, and xGF%. JoJo’s numbers have been solid in almost every area except the point column.

    It’s not like his shooting percentage is dreadful, either. Johansson is 10th on the team at 10.52%. His PDO is exactly at 1, so we should not expect a regression or an improvement. It’s not like JoJo has been playing terribly overall; the scoresheet just hasn’t been friendly to him. 

    Johansson The Athletic.png

    Photo credit via The Athletic. 

    Will Johansson score again this season? Yes, he will. I doubt he’ll let Jake Middleton outscore him all year. (Middleton has four goals, three more than Johansson). The problem people have with JoJo is that he’s not the same point-per-game player he was at the end of last season. The expectations for Johansson at the start of the year may have been too high. 

    Johansson has not been a player who scores at an elite rate for any extended period of his career outside that one season in Washington. The hot streak JoJo went on with Boldy at the end of the year was exactly that – a hot streak. Boldy’s early-season injury interrupted JoJo’s mojo.

    Now, Johansson is playing with Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello, both capable goal-scorers. Johansson has to increase his scoring output soon, and Rossi and Zuccarello should help with that. It’s not too little too late for JoJo, as there is still plenty of season left. A skilled veteran like him will find a way to correct his goal total throughout the season.

    Even if Johansson continues at this pace for the rest of the year, it would be disappointing but not a terrible use of resources. There are worse things than paying $2 million for 40 points. Wild fans must accept Johnasson for the player he is and has been, not the player who went on a hot streak with Boldy for a few weeks. 

    All stats and data via Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick, and HockeyDB unless otherwise noted. 

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    JoJo has never been a goal scorer. He’s a playmaker and thrives when he has goal-scorers to play with.

    Johansson is not a playmaker in my mind. He's fast, but he typically is not crafty with the puck. He doesn't routinely create high danger chances. I imagine he has a lot of 2nd assists in his career from making simple passes to playmakers, like Addison when he was playing on the Wild's top PP unit.

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    Mojo screams "I'm here to plug holes until next year."  I think the fact he shined so much with Boldy still doesn't say, "I'm going to take spots from anyone else,"  That's the nature of how these buyouts have been working.  I fully expect Mojo to have his spot taken up by Ohgren either right after training camp or midway through next season.

    There's no shame in that; it's just the reality of a player who probably knows he's benefitted a lot from playing with better people.

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    Mojo seized the opportunity with Boldy last season while playing for his nhl life.  Caught lightning in a bottle and convinced Benito Guerin that he’d found the key to unlocking Boldy s potential.  Fast forward to this season and mojo reverts back to the player we all loved to hate during his first audition with the Wild.  While the contract aav and term are not criminal, mojo’s mojo is the definition of beta, not alpha.   I predict Hynes makes him a healthy scratch if for no other reason to send a message to rest of team that if your out there every night just doing cardio and bringing nothing else, we’ll audition the kids.  
    top six line mates & minutes (power play time) and 1 goal in 27 games.   Jesus Christ dude.  At least Fred looks like he wants to be there.  

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    1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

    Mojo seized the opportunity with Boldy last season while playing for his nhl life.  Caught lightning in a bottle and convinced Benito Guerin that he’d found the key to unlocking Boldy s potential.  Fast forward to this season and mojo reverts back to the player we all loved to hate during his first audition with the Wild.  While the contract aav and term are not criminal, mojo’s mojo is the definition of beta, not alpha.   I predict Hynes makes him a healthy scratch if for no other reason to send a message to rest of team that if your out there every night just doing cardio and bringing nothing else, we’ll audition the kids.  
    top six line mates & minutes (power play time) and 1 goal in 27 games.   Jesus Christ dude.  At least Fred looks like he wants to be there.  

    At this point i would plat Vinnie L.

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    8 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

    NoJo

    I don’t agree with your take, but love this nickname.  
    Watch no jo go into a 50/50 puck battle.  Loses every time and doesn’t look like it bothers him a bit

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    He is a great skater.  That's it.  He rarely wins puck battles in the corner.  He is supposed to cover the D-man when in the D-zone and he gets beat to the puck every time it comes his way.  No reflexes.  2nd to the puck.  He reminds me of Rask where the puck is constantly going right through his feet and he can't get his stick on it.  I'm not even sure he sees it half the time.  He rarely goes to the net... and when he does it is usually to skate right by and leave again.  He loses the puck way too often...especially on zone entry on the power play. 

    I think what bothers me most about MoJo is that he has skill and if he was willing to dig deep down on the effort meter he could be so much more. Best word for him...  Underachiever.    at least that is my take.

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    6 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

    I don’t agree with your take, but love this nickname.  
    Watch no jo go into a 50/50 puck battle.  Loses every time and doesn’t look like it bothers him a bit

    Let me rephrase... a good game for him.  BTW I can't take credit for No Jo.

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