2019-20 Rangers report card: Jack Johnson

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ trash might be the New York Rangers’ treasure.

We continue our series of New York Rangers report cards.  We’ll look back at last season and provide some expectations for the coming season. 

Jack Johnson: Grade C-

Could a bad signing by the Pittsburgh Penguins benefit the New York Rangers?

Rangers president John Davidson and assistant coach Jacques Martin certainly believe that Jack Johnson can be an asset, both as a penalty killer and role model for the team’s many young players.

It’s why they were willing to take a flier on the veteran defenseman, signing him to a one-year deal worth $1 million last October after the Penguins bought out the final three seasons of a five-year contract signed in July 2018 with an average annual value of $3.25 million.

The Rangers hope the 33-year-old Johnson can help their penalty killing, which last season finished 23rd in the NHL at 77.39 percent. Johnson was a member of the Penguins short-handed unit, whose 82.1% success rate was tied for eighth place in the league.

“Our penalty killing just wasn’t good enough last year,” Davidson said last October. “We think we’ve helped ourselves in that area. … (newly-signed forward Kevin Rooney) is a very good penalty killer as a forward. Jack Johnson is a workout fiend. He’ll be in the weight room and these young players, and we’ve got a ton of them, they’re gonna see how it’s done. How hard you work. How much time you have to put in. It’s very helpful (to have a veteran player like Johnson).”

His season

Last season was Johnson’s second in Pittsburgh. He was oft-ripped by Pens’ fans for his lack of speed, offensive production, and very poor advanced statistics. His most passionate detractors agree that last season was better than his first in the Steel City, but according to them, that’s not saying much.

Johnson spent much of October and November on the team’s third pairing with John Marino (26 points in 56 games), averaging about 18 minutes per game. Johnson posted his best Corsi-for percentage (48.3) of the season paired with Marino. They spent just over 183 minutes together, during which the Pens scored seven goals and allowed seven goals at even strength.

When Brian Dumoulin went down with an ankle injury in late November, Johnson was placed on the top pairing with Kris Letang (bewildering many Pen’s fans and pundits). Letang, the Pens’ top-scoring defenseman with 15 goals and 44 points, was Johnson’s primary partner until Dumoulin returned from his injury in early March.

The pair played a season-high 531 minutes at even strength (36 games) during which he was on the ice for 20 goals for and 32 against, as well as 80 high-danger scoring chances-for to 116 HDSC-against. Together they had a CF% of 45.9. Letang’s CF% without Johnson was 57.2; Johnson’s without Letang was 47.5.

Skating with Letang and the Pens’ top forwards for an average of 21 minutes per game didn’t help Johnson’s offensive numbers, either. He posted just three goals and 11 assists in 67 games, after notching just one marker and 12 helpers in 82 matches the season before. Many Pens’ and pundits questioned why Johnson remained on the top pairing for so long, practically begging team brass to replace him with Marino (or anybody, for that matter).

When Dumoulin returned, Johnson returned to the third pairing and saw his average ice time cut to around 14 minutes.

The numbers

Games:  67
Goals: 3
Assists: 8
Points: 11
PIMs: 26
Plus/Minus:  -1
Blocked shots: 97 (most on the team)
Hits:  183 (most on the team and 5th among NHL Defensemen)
ATOI: 19:28 (9th on the team, 5th among defensemen)
Corsi-for: 46.7%

Postseason:  Johnson averaged nearly 16 minutes a night, had no points, and was on the ice for five of 10 goals scored by the Montreal Canadiens in the Habs’ four-game sweep last August in the Qualifying Round.

Why the grade?

The good: Johnson led the Pens and ranked fifth among NHL defensemen with 183 hits. He also led Pittsburgh with 97 blocked shots.

The bad: Johnson was on the ice for 41 goals for and 49 against in 5-on-5 action. The previous season, in the same situation, Pittsburgh scored 46 times and surrendered 60 with Johnson out there.

The ugly: Johnson was bought out last October for $5.5 million. The Pens will eat cap hits for each of the next six seasons, $1.66 million over each of the next two, $1.9 million in 2022-23, and just over $916,000 over each of the final three seasons.

Expectations

Johnson’s lucrative contract from the Pens set him up for failure. Expectations in Pittsburgh were high even though he was 31 when he signed and coming off a pedestrian season with the Columbus Blue Jackets in which he recorded 11 points, a 47.7 CF%, and was on the ice for 55 goals for his team and 93 against.

Taking the Rangers at their word, Johnson won’t be anywhere near the top two pairings. He’ll be killing penalties and mentoring young players. Could he be the seventh defenseman if Libor Hajek has a strong training camp (very possible) and prospect K’Andre Miller makes the team (less likely)?

He will have the support of new defense coach Jacques Martin who pushed for his signing and that should help him. The hope has to be that with lowered expectations coming to New York, he will do well.