A motivated Ryan Johansen could be set up for success with the Avalanche
DENVER — During his preseason media day appearance, Cale Makar mentioned only one newcomer when discussing players with something to prove: Ryan Johansen. Early in the offseason, Colorado acquired the center from the Predators in exchange for the rights to pending unrestricted free agent Alex Galchenyuk, whom Nashville opted not to sign. The Predators also retained half of Johansen’s $8 million cap hit over the next two seasons.
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In short, Nashville paid to give him away.
“Every time you’re traded, they don’t want you on their club anymore and they’re going a different route,” Johansen says. “It either motivates you, or you can pout about it.”
The 31-year-old is choosing to let the trade drive him — and with good reason. He went from a fringe playoff team in Nashville to one with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations. In Colorado, he will play second-line center behind Nathan MacKinnon, which scouts who spoke to The Athletic believe will help the newly acquired forward. He can be more of a complementary piece rather than the team’s main play-driver.
That’s not to downplay the importance of Johansen’s role. In recent years, the 2C position has been a major factor in how much playoff success the Avalanche have had. Colorado won the Stanley Cup in 2022 in part because of Nazem Kadri’s huge season. Without Kadri for most of the 2021 playoffs (suspension) and all of the 2023 postseason (departed in free agency), the Avalanche struggled to find consistency from their non-star players when the games matter most.
After failing to find a consistent Kadri replacement last season, general manager Chris MacFarland and the Colorado front office brought in Johansen to be the solution. This isn’t the first time MacFarland has shown faith in Johansen. He was an assistant GM in Columbus when the Blue Jackets selected the center No. 4 overall in the 2010 draft. The 6-foot-3 Johansen has gone on to have 60 or more points in six of his 12 NHL seasons with Columbus and Nashville, most recently in a resurgent 2021-22 season that saw him score 26 goals.
Johansen was in Napa Valley for his girlfriend’s birthday party when Predators general manager Barry Trotz called to tell him of the move and, though his life was suddenly flipped upside down, he was feeling excited within days. Even if he’s not the team’s star, he believes he can make a difference.
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“I’ve been a No. 1 center most of my career,” he says. “So I intend to play like a No. 1 center still.”
Johansen underwent season-ending surgery after a Quinn Hughes skate blade sliced his ankle in February. But even when he was healthy, the year wasn’t a banner one for the veteran. He had only 28 points in 55 games, his third time finishing with a sub-0.55 point-per-game pace the past four seasons.
Former Predators coach John Hynes, who was with Johansen from 2020-2023, believes Colorado could help bring out a Johansen resurgence, in part because he’s traditionally played his best in the postseason.
“For Ryan to get the opportunity to go into a team like that — a change of scenery but also a team that’s extremely competitive — I just felt it’s probably going to be good for him emotionally,” says Hynes, who also praised his former player’s caring demeanor and ability to communicate.
Beyond MacFarland, Johansen has several familiar faces with the Avalanche. Coach Jared Bednar and assistant Nolan Pratt were both assistants for the Springfield Falcons when Johansen played there in 2012-13. Jack Johnson (Columbus) and Brad Hunt (Nashville) were teammates with him in each of his NHL stops, and both spoke highly of him. He’s an upbeat presence in the dressing room and is chatty with his teammates.
“Really happy-go-lucky, laid back personality,” Johnson says. “Not a whole lot gets him down, but incredibly talented. Kind of reminded me a lot of Ryan Getzlaf, the way he played. Real big, plays up tall, sees the ice well, slows it down, really hard to knock off the puck.”
Adds Hunt: “Guys just love having him in the room.”
As Hynes mentioned, Johansen has traditionally performed well in the playoffs. He has 54 points in 67 career postseason games — a 0.8 point-per-game pace, up from his 0.66 career rate in the regular season. Hunt saw it up close in Nashville during the Predators’ run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. His patience and playmaking made him a force, Hunt says, and remembers his teammate’s “unreal” performance in the faceoff circle. Johansen averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time during that postseason and had 13 points in 14 games, all while winning 54.3 percent of his draws.
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He wasn’t able to play in the Stanley Cup Final, however, because he suffered a thigh injury in Game 4 of Nashville’s Western Conference finals series against Anaheim. The injury stemmed from a hit by Josh Manson, Johansen’s now-teammate with the Avalanche, who was frequently tasked with defending him.
“He was so hard to play against,” says Manson, who has cleared the air with the center since the injury. “He’s so big and strong. He’s hard to move. Great patience with the puck.”
MacKinnon loved the trade pickup and, though he wasn’t in the lineup, watched Johansen’s preseason debut Monday, saying he, “thought he played awesome.” Along with bringing size to the lineup, which MacKinnon likes, Johansen could be a solid option in the bumper spot on Colorado’s power-play unit.
“I think having a righty in there will give me a little relief,” MacKinnon says. “Teams can’t sit on me as much because the middle will be wide open for him to shoot it.”
Johansen’s faceoff abilities should come in handy on the power play, too. Aside from his rookie year, he’s never won fewer than 50 percent of his draws in a season. That’s a big boost for Colorado, which has been a bottom-five team in faceoff percentage each of the past two seasons.
In Nashville, Johansen in the bumper position on the power play, and Bednar put him there while Colorado practiced special teams on Wednesday. The coach likes his player’s patience and how he always seems to know where to go with the puck, which is something Hynes saw, too.
“He’s got a little bit of a calmness about him,” the former Predators coach says. “When he gets the puck in those situations, even when he’s under pressure, he can make the next right play.”
Adds Johansen: “There’s a lot of little things that go into it, which I’ve learned over time to embrace and learn and figure out ways to help make the power play click.”
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Bednar acknowledges that Johansen’s pace probably isn’t what it once was early in his career. That could lead to an interesting fit with a high-flying Avalanche team, but Colorado’s coach didn’t seem overly concerned. He wouldn’t call Johansen a speed demon, he says, but believes he’s still a good skater who is strong and able to protect pucks.
“He’s got that long stride,” Jack Johnson says. “His legs aren’t churning a million miles an hour, but he’s moving. He really slows the game down more in the offensive zone. … It’s not like he’s going to come to a standstill in the neutral zone. He can move. It’s a deceptive speed.”
Johansen spent a good chunk of his offseason in Colorado while working his way from surgery. He wanted to get settled in the city and focus on recovering with the team trainers. He met his goal of being ready for the start of camp, and now he can focus on the looming regular season — one that could decide if the front office was right in identifying him as their No. 2 center.
“I was just excited when I saw that he wound up going to Colorado,” Hynes says. “I think you’re going to get one of the best years of Ryan Johansen that he’s had.”
(Photo of Ryan Johansen: Andy Cross / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post via Getty Images)
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