His father, Jonas, helps with that. The two talk often. A long-time captain with Frolunda, Jonas even came to Toronto earlier this fall to spend some time with the younger of his two sons (Jonathan, 25, plays for MODO in Sweden’s second-tier pro league).
“He helps me to try to find positive things — what I may not see,” Andreas said of his father, also a seventh-round pick in the NHL draft, but one who never did play in North America.
Johnsson tried to find those things, too, even if most nights there wasn’t much to get excited about. After a quiet camp that started with him on the fourth line, Johnsson briefly fell out of the lineup entirely early this season, and when an opening emerged on the left wing of the third line, Mike Babcock opted to slide 27-year-old Par Lindholm over from centre and keep Johnsson planted right where he was on the fourth line.
Johnsson didn’t score until his 11th game of the season and had only an assist to his name in the 10 games before that. But still, he tried to find things to feel good about.
“Usually, it’s making one play and be confident about it, and then make another play, and try to build on something positive,” Johnsson said. “If you can’t find (something) positive, just make something up.”
Dad passed along tips that helped on the ice, too. Like, for instance, how Andreas should position himself along the wall in the defensive zone to get the puck out.
Stand more like this, Jonas might say.