Tenth.
That's where Kent Johnson ranks among Blue Jackets forwards in ice time this season. He's played 12:58 a night, 11:26 of which is at even strength (9th among CBJ forwards) and the other 1:32 (8th) is on the power play. So far this season he's played an average of 17 shifts per game (13th) at an average length of 0:46 (T-5th). Even still, he's the team's second-leading scorer with three goals and three assists in nine games.
#CBJ Johnson (1) goal pic.twitter.com/OB5ACW7vYr
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 23, 2022
At five-on-five, his goals-for percentage (GF%, the percentage of goals while the player is on the ice that their team scores) is 57.14%, the best among CBJ forwards with at least 100 minutes at five-on-five, per naturalstattrick.com. He also has three five-on-five goals, which is just one less than team leader Johnny Gaudreau, who has played 62:30 more at five-on-five than Johnson has.
#CBJ Johnson (2) goal pic.twitter.com/ZET53cztp5
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 23, 2022
The stats indicate Johnson has been one of the team's best forwards so far this season, so he should be playing more.
#CBJ Johnson (3) goal pic.twitter.com/68yrCqESM4
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 26, 2022
How will playing less than 13 minutes a night affect his development? He was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, the high-end talent is there, and now he's got the production to back it up. Johnson is a player that can drive the offense for the Jackets and after a 3-7-0 start, it's time to make him one of the most-played forwards on the team.
I am not going to tell Brad Larsen how to do his job because I'm nowhere near qualified to tell a coach how to coach but if Johnson is the team's second-leading scorer shouldn't he be playing more?
We'll see if anything changes this weekend in Tampere, Finland, against the defending-champion Colorado Avalanche.
