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Player Discussion: Kent Johnson - Winger or Center?

What is Kent Johnson’s most likely future Blue Jackets role in the next two years?

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    46
  • Poll closed .
stevo61

stevo61

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Jul 5, 2011
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DoingItCoolKiwi said:
Short-term outlook is the only one there is when no one knows how the new GM will run things. Naturally everybody wants to keep their jobs, and the safest way to do that is to show improvement by winning.
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I think helping the kids who are the future of your team is bigger than an extra win or 2 at the end of the year. Either way Vincent has been trash at both
 
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majormajor

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Jun 23, 2018
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CBJWerenski8 said:
Hard to fight against anything here. Especially with Fantilli out. There’s an open opportunity at center in the short term, and if he sticks there you could be set down the middle for a while

Jenner
Fantilli
Johnson
Sillinger/Voronkov

We already know Kuraly can play 4C. And if Kj is overwhelmed at center you can park him back on the wing for a game or so.

What’s the worst that can happen? He struggles and loses confidence? Isn’t he doing that right now anyway?
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I don't have an argument against trying KJ at center but I don't see it being very important either. He's not on the verge of breaking out in my opinion. Getting him to take a small step in terms of speed and strength would allow him to do more things in the lineup. Right now with his lack of pace it's asking a lot of him to carry the puck from deep in our zone, that's a lot of defenders for him to go through. Being an outlet on the wall who can take a pass and then make a dangle and hit someone in space is what he is the absolute best at. I don't see a problem with him on the wing*. You could see if he's more ready to play center in a couple years. There are so many centers around the league who switched well into their 20s and we have folks tearing their hair out here when a 21 year old is on the wing. Chillax.

Yeah I don't see much reason to be concerned with our center lineup. Adam Fantilli is as good a bet for future #1C as you could possibly ask for, Jenner is a great top six fit with Johnny, Voronkov has something like 7 goals in his last 10 games. Where is the reason for concern here?

*Is there some subtext here that people think he's struggling? FYI his 5v5 scoring rate is very good. His problem is that he hasn't scored on the PP, despite getting plenty of minutes there. 5v5 KJ has been scoring plenty.
 
koteka

koteka

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majormajor said:
*Is there some subtext here that people think he's struggling? FYI his 5v5 scoring rate is very good. His problem is that he hasn't scored on the PP, despite getting plenty of minutes there. 5v5 KJ has been scoring plenty.
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I think the subtext is a new GM will possibly make some big moves so let’s see what we have in KJ. Also, we suck so let’s focus on playing the kids, not running Boone Jenner out for 26 minutes per night.
 
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VT

VT

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Jan 24, 2021
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majormajor said:
I don't have an argument against trying KJ at center but I don't see it being very important either. He's not on the verge of breaking out in my opinion. Getting him to take a small step in terms of speed and strength would allow him to do more things in the lineup. Right now with his lack of pace it's asking a lot of him to carry the puck from deep in our zone, that's a lot of defenders for him to go through. Being an outlet on the wall who can take a pass and then make a dangle and hit someone in space is what he is the absolute best at. I don't see a problem with him on the wing*. You could see if he's more ready to play center in a couple years. There are so many centers around the league who switched well into their 20s and we have folks tearing their hair out here when a 21 year old is on the wing. Chillax.

Yeah I don't see much reason to be concerned with our center lineup. Adam Fantilli is as good a bet for future #1C as you could possibly ask for, Jenner is a great top six fit with Johnny, Voronkov has something like 7 goals in his last 10 games. Where is the reason for concern here?

*Is there some subtext here that people think he's struggling? FYI his 5v5 scoring rate is very good. His problem is that he hasn't scored on the PP, despite getting plenty of minutes there. 5v5 KJ has been scoring plenty.
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Problem is, nobody knows what the new GM's plans would be with Kent.
 
Xoggz22

Xoggz22

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Mar 4, 2002
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DoingItCoolKiwi said:
Short-term outlook is the only one there is when no one knows how the new GM will run things. Naturally everybody wants to keep their jobs, and the safest way to do that is to show improvement by winning.
Click to expand...
I would agree with this if it were only happening this year. However, there were opportunities last year under a different coach to get the younger players in positions to evaluate. I've always been told, how can you know your ceiling if you're never put in a position to push through your current status? He is struggling right now regardless so moving him to a position you feel may be something long term wouldn't put him in any worse position. We've also heard nothing but good things about his head and ability to manage difficulty. He's a worker, loves the game and wants to improve. Does that die on the vine if he's stuck in a position that maybe isn't utilizing his full skill set. So he struggles.... so what.

This isn't a new thing with this team.
 
CBJWerenski8

CBJWerenski8

Formerly CBJWennberg10 (RIP Kivi)
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majormajor said:
*Is there some subtext here that people think he's struggling? FYI his 5v5 scoring rate is very good. His problem is that he hasn't scored on the PP, despite getting plenty of minutes there. 5v5 KJ has been scoring plenty.
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He may be producing at a good clip with his ice time 5on5, but he just doesn’t look good doing it. Like you said, he’s not on the verge of breaking out, he’s not popping on the screen, and a lot of times his line is out there defending and not in the offensive zone. It speaks to his offensive talent that he’s still going at a decent clip despite the lack of ice time and end zone time. But it’s probably not the ideal development path.

I hope he’s open to playing in Cleveland for their playoffs.
 

majormajor

Registered User
Jun 23, 2018
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CBJWerenski8 said:
He may be producing at a good clip with his ice time 5on5, but he just doesn’t look good doing it. Like you said, he’s not on the verge of breaking out, he’s not popping on the screen, and a lot of times his line is out there defending and not in the offensive zone. It speaks to his offensive talent that he’s still going at a decent clip despite the lack of ice time and end zone time. But it’s probably not the ideal development path.
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I don't disagree. I don't think he looks great. Losing too many battles. But still skilled enough to get a lot of points (it is a lot of points relative to his meagre ice time). The zero points on the PP is more of a problem. That's a tough one.

Xoggz22 said:
I would agree with this if it were only happening this year. However, there were opportunities last year under a different coach to get the younger players in positions to evaluate. I've always been told, how can you know your ceiling if you're never put in a position to push through your current status? He is struggling right now regardless so moving him to a position you feel may be something long term wouldn't put him in any worse position. We've also heard nothing but good things about his head and ability to manage difficulty. He's a worker, loves the game and wants to improve. Does that die on the vine if he's stuck in a position that maybe isn't utilizing his full skill set. So he struggles.... so what.

This isn't a new thing with this team.
Click to expand...

What position are you trying to put him in? Is this an argument for putting KJ at center?

"Position to succeed" is maybe debatable, I don't think center is an easier position to play.
 
Cyclones Rock

Cyclones Rock

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Jun 12, 2008
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stevo61 said:
needs some olympic or bodybuilding style lifting in his life and more food
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He was elbowed or shouldered in the face. How a couple lbs extra of arm/upper body strength stops this is beyond me.

But, I agree. A 40oz porterhouse would have prevented it.
 
stevo61

stevo61

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Jul 5, 2011
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Cyclones Rock said:
He was elbowed or shouldered in the face. How a couple lbs extra of arm/upper body strength stops this is beyond me.

But, I agree. A 40oz porterhouse would have prevented it.
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That swing down got him? I didnt see him react so I still dont know exactly what happened. But regardless, strength would have helped that tie up for sure
 
Jovavic

Jovavic

Gaslight Object Project
Oct 13, 2002
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It honestly looked similar to the injury Brassard got from Neal in that fight years ago, just the shoulder being tugged or pulled down at a certain velocity and angle
 
CBJWerenski8

CBJWerenski8

Formerly CBJWennberg10 (RIP Kivi)
Jun 13, 2009
42,367
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“It’s disappointing because he’s going to have to go through a tough time and a rough time, but he’s a good kid,” Davidson said. “He’s got time on his side for sure. He’s young and it’s this time of year, so he’ll be ready for training camp and he’s going to have a good, solid, hard rehab summer. He’ll be ready to go.”
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Johnson’s arms were pushed upward, his left shoulder apparently gave out and the labrum tore.

"Those are curveballs you get, and the best thing you can do when you get curveballs, and you don’t like them, is you deal with them," Davidson said. "So, we’re going to get him taken care of, and he’s going to be starting his next season right now.”“We’re developing winning habits, and it’s true for him and all of our young guys ... playing the right way,” Vincent said. “It’s the little details. I’m not expecting Kent Johnson to be blocking shots like (Erik) Gudbranson, but when it’s there, it’s there. We’re creating those habits. I’m not looking at points right now. I’m looking at habits, and because he’s so highly skilled, once those habits are in place the points will come. I don’t worry about that.”
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