Underachieving Johnsson Latest To Fall In Devils’ Accountability Purge
With about 4:30 remaining in the first period of Monday’s forgettable 1-0 preseason victory over visiting Boston, Devils wing Nathan Bastian sent a nifty pass from the left wing boards at the Bruins blue line to streaking linemate Andreas Johnsson, who had an open path to the net.
Johnsson, however, opted to forgo the one-on-one opportunity with Boston goalie and former Devil Keith Kinkaid. Instead, he whipped a pass backwards to…no one in particular.
If ever a play symbolized Johnsson’s frustrating tenure in New Jersey, it was that one. And since the Devils placed the 27-year old on waivers on Friday to get their roster down to 26 players, he may very well never get the chance to top it.
Johnsson, in the final season of a 4-year, $13.6 million contract, was traded by Toronto in the 2020 offseason in exchange for wing Joey Anderson. A 20-goal scorer for the Maple Leafs in 2018-19, Johnsson seemed ideally suited to boost the young Devils’ top-six forward group.
In fairness, Anderson still hasn’t found a niche at the NHL level, suiting up just 6 games for the Leafs and 76 games for the AHL Marlies since the trade. That still doesn't lessen the Devils’ disappointment with Johnsson’s unsatisfactory production.
After a horrendous 2020-21 campaign in which he registered just 5 goals and 6 assists in 50 games, Johnsson started off last season on fire, with 18 points (9 goals and 9 assists) in his first 20 games. The hot stick, unfortunately, flamed out. In Johnsson’s last 51 games (when he wasn’t a healthy scratch), he reverted back to the player who was infamous for blowing glorious opportunities, notching just 17 points (4 goals, 13 assists).
Though snakebit in the offensive zone, Johnsson was a diligent player without the puck, as measured by the advanced metrics in Naturalstattrick.com. Still, we are entering (or rather Devils fans are hoping for) a new era of accountability from this organization. General Manager Tom Fitzgerald traded away underachieving former first-round draft picks Pavel Zacha and Ty Smith this offseason and now he’s setting the table for Johnsson’s exit (the Devils did not specifically mention that their intent was to send Johnsson to Utica if he went unclaimed unlike the separate paragraph in the press release that referenced waived forward Brian Pinho).
Devils fans are beyond tired of hearing about the neverending rebuild. Patience is thin, if not worn out. Produce or go away, leaving room for those who will actually help the franchise end its four-year playoff drought this season.
With three cuts to go before Monday’s deadline, the battle for the final forward slots is far from over (I can’t see defenseman Simon Nemec, New Jersey’s No. 2 overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft, hanging around as an extra with the big club when he could be receiving quality ice time in Utica, leaving Brendan Smith and Kevin Bahl to split the sixth/seventh d-man slot). I’m still sticking to my guns that wing Fabian Zetterlund has earned an NHL job, though I’m less sure about 2021 first-rounder Alexander Holtz after some underwhelming preseason performances.
Holtz and oft-injured Tyce Thompson are exempt from requiring waivers in order to be demoted to Utica, so Fitzgerald and Head Coach Lindy Ruff might opt to delay making more difficult choices on players such as Jesper Boqvist and Mason Geertsen. Thompson hasn’t suited up since departing early from the September 29 preseason victory over the Rangers with an undisclosed injury.
As I laid out in my last Devils post, the obvious next cut in Fitzgerald’s accountability purge should be center Michael McLeod. My reasons were all hockey-related, since McLeod’s involvement in the 2018 Team Canada World Junior team’s sexual assault investigation has not even been alleged, never mind established.
Center Nico Hischier’s hamstring injury from the preseason opener on September 26 and his uncertain status going forward could obviously play into the organization’s ultimate decision. Therefore, I’m predicting Thompson and Holtz go down, with Geertsen, Boqvist, McLeod, and Zetterlund all making it to the Devils’ opening night roster on Thursday in Philadelphia.