It went down to the wire, but Don Sweeney pulled a last-second deal to add another winger to Boston’s roster.
It may not be the flashiest name out there, but Boston dealt for Devils forward Marcus Johansson Monday in exchange for a 2019 second-round pick and a 2020 fourth-round pick.
In 48 games played with New Jersey this season, Johansson has tallied 12 goals and 15 assists while averaging 16:27 TOI in a top-six role. Johansson will likely slot up on a line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk for the time being, especially with David Pastrnak still on the shelf due to thumb surgery.
Johansson is a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, while New Jersey will retain 40 percent of the forward’s remaining salary for the 2018-19 campaign.
Let’s take a closer look at the deal:
What can Johansson bring to the Bruins?
It can be easy to chalk up the acquisition of Johansson as a fall-back option for the Bruins, as Sweeney and his staff came up short in deals for Mark Stone (dealt to Vegas), Gustav Nyquist (San Jose) and Wayne Simmonds (Nashville).
Still, Johansson does offer some value for this Bruins club, both as a viable winger to add in a top-six role and as a depth option that can slot up and down the lineup — similar to what Charlie Coyle provides.
In his last full season with Washington in 2016-17, Johansson tallied 24 goals and added 34 assists over 82 games. Johansson’s tenure in Ottawa was a bit more rocky after only playing in 29 games all of last season (We’ll address that a bit later). He’s certainly no Stone, but Johansson started to turn the corner as of late with New Jersey — tallying 12 points (six goals, six assists) over his last 13 games played.
While 10 of his 12 goals this year have come at even strength, an area that Boston has labored in all season long, Johansson only boasts a Goals Above Replacement of 0.1 at even strength — just above a production rate of an average replacement-level player.
On this Bruins roster, that would rank Johansson 13th in terms of even strength GAR — just ahead of Chris Wagner (0.0) and below Brandon Carlo (0.3). Still, Johansson can produce if slotted up into a top-six role and is one of the better forwards in the league when it comes to zone entries — another facet of the game that has stalled Boston’s production at times in the offensive zone.
When looking at Corey Sznajder’s great charts evaluating exits and entries, Johansson puts himself in good company as a player that averages over 20 zone entries per 60 minutes of play and carry-in percentage over 50% — as the only other Bruins skaters to hit those totals this season are Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and David Krejci.
For the time being, that production will be useful in a top-six role, as Sweeney noted during Monday’s press conference that Pastrnak
will be out for at least another two weeks while recovering from his surgery. Boston’s top goalscorer will be in a cast for those two weeks and will have to be fitted with a splint.
Adding players like Johansson and Coyle, who can play both center and wing, does give
Bruce Cassidy
plenty of options both before and after Pastrnak’s return. Johansson could very well earn a look on a top line with
Patrice Bergeron
and
Brad Marchand
(similar to a role he filled during his tenure with Washington) while Pastrnak returns with Krejci and DeBrusk — or he could also slot down into a third-line role and form a solid group with Coyle. Likewise, Coyle could also earn top-six minutes as a winger if need be — giving Cassidy the luxury to tinker with his lineup.
"Adding to the depth — it's not an (indictment) of
Peter Cehlarik
and/or
Karson Kuhlman
. I think they've done a great job and worked their way into being a big part of our group. But I think overall, we all acknowledged internally that we could all use a little more depth, especially knowing that Pasta would be out for two more weeks."
The cost?
Having players like Bergeron and Krejci might force Boston to be in a bit of a “win-now” mode, but it’s apparent that Sweeney is still keeping his eyes fixated on the future, as he noted Boston was not willing to part ways with its first-round pick for the second year in a row, along with dealing its top three prospects — which likely included
Urho Vaakanainen
and
Jack Studnicka.
With
Ryan Donato
being the lone casualty for Boston at the deadline, the Bruins are set to roll out an impressive prospect pipeline going forward, with both Vaakanainen and Studnicka expected to compete for NHL roles next season — while the addition of Coyle and Johansson will also allow skaters like
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson
and
Trent Frederic
to work on their craft down in the AHL.
As for Marchand...
Johansson does have a bit of history with
Brad Marchand
— as the B’s winger was suspended for five games last season after clocking Johansson in the head with an elbow.
Johansson suffered a concussion on the play, and did not play for the rest of the regular season after taking the hit on Jan. 23. He did return for three playoff games with the Devils, but posted zero points over 17:31 ATOI.
“It was stupid. There's nothing else to say about it. There was no point in doing that," Johansson told
. "There was no hockey play there whatsoever. I think it's sad to see that there's still guys out there that are trying to hurt other guys. I think there's nothing else to say about it.
"It's sad, it's stupid. I hope it doesn't come to him ending someone else's career before it's enough. That's not why we play the game. I think there's always situations where you try and hit someone and you try to make a hockey play, and things can go wrong. Then there are plays like this, that has nothing to do with hockey. So it's sad to see, and I guess I'm unfortunate to be on the receiving end of that."
Yikes.
At first glance, though, it seems as though it’s all water under the bridge between Johansson and Marchand. Still, should make for an interesting practice on Tuesday.
“I think his quick line was, 'I'd much rather be playing with Marchand than against him,’” Sweeney said of his initial conversation with Johansson. “I think he's happy with knowing where our club is at currently and the fact that he's going right into a competitive atmosphere.
“In the moment, it's not great for the player. March felt bad about it. He wasn't trying to hurt the player and he paid a price for that. Hockey players, I've seen a lot of tough guys have a beef and then go out and have a beer afterwards. I think it will be perfectly fine and March
will be the first one to welcome him aboard. That’s the teammate he is."
