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Kent Johnson could hardly get on the ice down the stretch of the season for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
That has him looking like a trade candidate as rumor season gets underway in the NHL.
With that in mind, Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin has named Johnson a top candidate to breakout if he gets a "change of scenery," listing Johnson first in a new article about that topic on Friday.
Johnson's skill has apparently not matched the view of his physical attributes on the ice.
"Johnson’s breathtaking natural skill with the puck has never been in question, but the rest of his game has not caught up, to the point he’s looking like the second coming of Sonny Milano, another Blue Jackets’ first-round bust," Larkin writes. "Johnston appeared to have new life after a midseason coaching switch to Rick Bowness but, by April, Johnson was playing just 11:11 per night, and he was a healthy scratch on occasion, with the coaching staff feeling he was getting muscled off pucks too often."
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It's a classic conundrum for coaches -- do you play the young player with work still to do in order to develop the future, or do you play the grizzled veterans for the present?
Some would argue Johnson is good enough that he should be getting the playing time now to help win games, too, but that's clearly not what the Blue Jackets thought.
"Johnson actually generated individual scoring chances at the highest rate of his career this season at 5-on-5," Larkin writes. "He’s still just 23, and a team that trusts him more in a role that maximizes his razzle-dazzle could reap major rewards buying low."
There are plenty of teams in a rebuilding stage that could snag Johnson in the hopes of developing him into a top-six forward down the line. It seems like a potentially good opportunity both for the winger himself and for a new team.
Someone ought to pick up the phone and call Columbus to make this happen.
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