Three Reasons Kent Johnson Belongs in the Blue Jackets’ Starting Six…

Three Reasons Kent Johnson Belongs in the Blue Jackets’ Starting Six…

For Kent Johnson, the 2023–24 season hasn’t started out the way he had hoped. He is one of many players on the Blue Jackets roster that has had a poor season as they get ready to resume play after their bye week.
The Blue Jackets have no chance of making the playoffs with just 32 games remaining in the season. The games do, however, have deeper significance. Welcome to our first mini-series after the All-Star Game. In this series of pieces, we’ll focus on the things that the Blue Jackets must do to try to maintain some momentum heading into an offseason that may bring about a lot of significant upheaval.
Johnson was a healthy scratch for the home opener, which led to a rough start to the season. After that, he spent some time in the AHL while he tried to regain his confidence. He received a call back from the Blue Jackets after seeing success with the Monsters.

This season, Johnson has had a few successful moments. Most famously, he gave the Blue Jackets a 5-0 lead and then scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Toronto. He’s obviously working on a lot of different elements of his game, even though he’s still displaying glimpses of what he could become.
But how about this stunning one? Johnson has exactly 0 points on the power play as he starts Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. None at all. All of the work in his 6-9-15 line has been completed at even strength. He has 5-7-12 on the power play in 2022–2023.
This is an absurd statistic for a player with Johnson’s level of offensive skill. Not because he hasn’t had time to benefit from the man advantage. Johnson has played more than 74 minutes with the man advantage, per Nat Stat Trick.

Johnson has a great chance to step up and thrill the home crowd for the remainder of the season because Adam Fantilli is expected to be sidelined for several weeks.
Johnson skated in a line with Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko on the left side of the top six during practice on Thursday. At the conclusion of the last road trip, they were present for the 1-0 shutout of the St. Louis Blues.
Johnson must be playing in the top six right now, given the state of the season. For the remainder of current season, this should be implemented for the following three reasons.

Johnson Needs Top-6 Minutes for Three Reasons
Confidence: Earlier in the season, Johnson was returned to the AHL for this reason. He had trouble feeling confident. After moving to Cleveland, he resumed his fun. He’s had the chance to enjoy himself while playing significant minutes in these past 32 games. He must possess the self-assurance to play in more challenging settings against more formidable opponents. He will be more likely to use his offensive talent if he has that confidence. This brings up the second justification.

Make better use of his abilities: Johnson will have more opportunities to play his game and make use of his skill set if he plays in a top-six role. Johnson will have more opportunities since Kirill Marchenko, the opposite side’s shooter, is there. He plays the role of a playmaker. He can shoot when the opportunity arises, but his ability to read moves and make difficult passes really shines. His upside is limited if you play him in the bottom six. He requires additional minutes. More offensive scenarios are what he needs. He should play with other players who share his perspective on the game. He should get more power-play action because of his skill with the puck on his stick if he is in the top six.

The most important one is the chance to get better against more formidable opponents. Johnson will face more formidable and significant competition. He must go through this every night in order to pinpoint exactly what he must do in order to get ready for the upcoming season and beyond. Here, the importance of experience cannot be emphasized. He must be able to modify his style of play so that it resembles Johnny Gaudreau’s style. Despite his small stature, Gaudreau can hold the puck against larger players.

 

Johnson requires representation there. He will gain more by playing more minutes in a challenging environment right now than from playing fewer minutes in a more comfortable one. This is the window of opportunity for errors. Allow him to grow and learn from his mistakes now so that he can be more ready for what he can become.
Watch out for Part 2 of our miniseries, where we discuss the Blue Jackets’ influence on the playoff race and the opportunities this young team will have from those games.