What are the Blue Jackets doing with Kent Johnson?
Through the first three weeks of his second full NHL season, he was scratched twice and played just 12:50 a night, down from the 14:30/game he played last season, before being sent down to the Cleveland Monsters on Nov. 3 with the hope that he'd regain confidence while adding strength.
One thing Pascal Vincent has said a lot recently is the #CBJ staff has a plan for Kent Johnson to get stronger. He has an individual strength plan in place, and hes a hard worker in the gym. He just doesnt naturally hold weight. Itll take time but its a focus. https://t.co/dnj6vQFGin
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) November 4, 2023
In 10 games with the Monsters, he lit up the AHL, scoring five goals and 10 assists.
Kent Johnson scored his fifth AHL goal of the season and is now up to five goals and 15 points in 10 games. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/IDyWTK7Dsg
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 26, 2023
On Nov. 30, the Blue Jackets recalled Johnson. After his first game back, head coach Pascal Vincent said he had a good game.
"I thought KJ was good. I liked his game." - #CBJ HC Pascal Vincent on Kent Johnson's performance in his first NHL game since Nov. 2.
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 2, 2023
However, in the three games since being recalled, he's scored zero points and logged an average of 10:38 per game. In Tuesday's 4-3 OT loss to Los Angeles, he played just 8:06, including 2:26 in the third period that saw Columbus blow a three-goal lead.
After the game, Vincent was asked why Johnson, along with fellow young players Adam Fantilli (10:11 TOI) and David Jiricek (10:25) had limited ice time.
"We were playing [well]," Vincent said. "The team was playing [well]. We had a matchup, and that's what happened. "I mean we can focus on that or we can focus on [Kirll] Marchenko and [Dmitri] Voronkov and, you know, Johnny [Gaudreau], the way he played. I mean, this is the NHL."
Yes, the Blue Jackets played well through the first 40 minutes of the game. But what about the last 20? If Johnson was playing poorly it would make sense to bench him, but he wasn't. He directly contributed to the team's third goal by tying up Trevor Lewis along the wall, allowing Fantilli to take the puck and find Jiricek whose shot was blocked and then eventually shot into the net by Mathieu Olivier.
Mathieu Olivier adds to the Columbus lead with a tally in tight, 3-0 Jackets!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/D4CO1NiOco
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 6, 2023
Additionally, Johnson led all skaters on both teams with an 85.5% five-on-five on-ice expected goals share, per moneypuck.com, and was second among Blue Jackets skaters with a 1.02 game score, per hockeystatcards.com.
This leads to the bigger question: What is the Blue Jackets' plan for Johnson?
If he's not going to play top-six minutes at the NHL level, why is he not still in Cleveland? Maybe there are downsides to throwing him to the wolves as a 21-year-old, but he also proved last season that he can be a productive player at the NHL level.
#CBJ Johnson (1) goal pic.twitter.com/nFFADg930n
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 22, 2023
It would be one thing if his 8:06 on Tuesday was an aberration, and he was playing between 14 and 15 minutes per game, but he's not.
The Blue Jackets cannot afford to botch the development of Johnson, or any of their top young prospects like Fantilli, Jiricek, and Sillinger.
If they do, it'll be a catastrophic blow to this franchise's progress toward becoming a perennial contender.
