The 2023-24 season for Kent Johnson hasn’t gone the way that he thought it would to this point. As the Blue Jackets prepare to start play post bye week, he is one of many players who have had a subpar season.
With just 32 games left to play this season, the Blue Jackets have no shot of the playoffs. However, the games do carry meaning for other reasons. Welcome to Part 1 of our post All-Star Game mini series. In this set of articles, we’re going to highlight things that need to happen for the Blue Jackets down the stretch of the season to try to carry some momentum into an offseason that could be full of massive change.
Kent Johnson’s Season
Johnson’s season got off to a rocky start when he was a healthy scratch for the home opener. He then found himself in the AHL for a time trying to find his confidence again. After enjoying success with the Monsters, he got the call back to the Blue Jackets.
Johnson has had some good moments this season. Most notably, he scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Toronto after the Blue Jackets blew a 5-0 lead. He’s still showing the flashes of what he could become but it’s clear he’s also working on many aspects of his game.
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But how’s this one for a stunner? Johnson will enter play on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning with exactly zero points on the power play. ZERO. His line of 6-9-15 has all been accomplished at even strength. In 2022-23, he had 5-7-12 on the power play.
For someone who is as offensively skilled as Johnson, this is an insane stat. It’s not that he hasn’t gotten time on the man advantage. According to Nat Stat Trick, Johnson has played over 74 minutes on the man advantage.
With Adam Fantilli set to be out for several weeks yet, this is the perfect opportunity for Johnson to step up and give the home fans some excitement the rest of this season.
At practice on Thursday, Johnson skated on the left side in the top-six on a line with Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko. They were together for the 1-0 shutout of the St. Louis Blues back at the end of the last road trip.
With the season at the point that it’s at, Johnson absolutely needs to be playing in the top-six. Here are three reasons why this needs to be a thing for the rest of this season.
3 Reasons Johnson Needs Top-6 Minutes
- Confidence: This was the reason why Johnson was sent back to the AHL earlier in the season. He struggled with his confidence. He went to Cleveland and started having fun again. These last 32 games provides him an opportunity to have fun while playing big minutes. He needs to be able to have the confidence to play in tougher situations against bigger opposition. With that confidence, he’ll be more prone to unleash his offensive potential. This leads us into the second reason.
- Better utilize his skills: Playing in a top-six role will provide Johnson the opportunity to play his game and to utilize his skill set more. Having a shooter in Kirill Marchenko on the other side will open some things up for Johnson. His game is that of a playmaker. While he’ll shoot when given the chance, his ability to read plays and make tough passes stands out. Playing him in the bottom-six limits his upside. He needs more minutes. He needs more offensive situations. He needs to play with players who think the game at the same level. Being in the top-six should allow him more power-play time as well given what he can do with the puck on his stick.
- Opportunity to improve against tougher competition: This is the big one. Johnson is going to see tougher and bigger competition. He needs to experience this on a nightly basis to know exactly what he needs to do in preparation for next season and beyond. The experience factor here cannot be overstated. He needs to be able to adjust his game to play in a similar mold to the way Johnny Gaudreau plays the game. Gaudreau is able to protect the puck against bigger players despite being undersized. Johnson needs reps in that area. Playing more minutes in a tougher situation now will benefit him more than playing lower minutes in a sheltered situation. This is the time where mistakes can happen. Let him learn and make the mistakes now so he’s better prepared for what he can become.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our mini series in which we talk about the Blue Jackets’ impact to the playoff race and the opportunity those games will present to this young team.
