2022 Player Review - Kent Johnson has a promising future

As the 2021-22 Columbus Blue Jackets season wore down, fans looked to the future. And as the 2021-22 Michigan Wolverines (Boo) season wore down, so did Kent Johnson. After being eliminated in the Frozen Four semifinal, Johnson made the cross-town jaunt to Little Caesar’s Arena, met his team, and prepped for his debut.

Drafted 5th overall this past year, Johnson made his debut on April 13 versus the Montreal Canadiens. His vision and playmaking ability were apparent, but he didn’t get on the score sheet until April 19, with an assist in San Jose, and then got two more apples in his final five games.

While at this point it seems safe to say that Johnson won’t play center in the NHL, that doesn’t mean he won’t contribute. Expect him in a middle-six role next season.

2022 Stats:

NHL (9 games):

Goals: 0
Assists: 3
Points: 3
Plus/Minus: +2
PIM: 2
5v5 CF%: 56.9%
5v5 FF%: 54.6%

NCAA (32 games):

Goals: 8
Assists: 29
Points: 37
Plus/Minus: +25
PIM: 6

International (5 games in Olympics, 10 in World Championship):

Goals: 5
Assists: 7
Points: 12
Plus/Minus: -1
PIM: 0

Contract Status:

Johnson signed a three-year Entry Level Contract when he joined the team, making $925K each year. He’ll be an RFA in 2024.

Report Card:

Ideally there’d be a bit more sample size, but with what we got, I’m going with a C+. While he looked good, he never put one in the net, which I’m mostly chalking up to a combination of him not having enough time to get fully used to the NHL and just plain bad luck.