Player Discussion: Kent Johnson - Winger or Center?

[CBJWerenski8]

Johnson said the agent change had nothing to do with his relationship with the Blue Jackets. He is a restricted free agent after the season.

“The simplest way to say it is that Pat’s a great agent and I want to work with the best guy,” said Johnson, who had been represented previously by Ross Gurney. “I think (Pat) will probably do the best for me. There’s not really anything too big with it.

“I saw some stuff (rumors on social media) and it’s nothing like that. Pat represents like 75 guys. I get that two (of his previous clients) asked for a trade out of Columbus, but it’s not a thing.”

 

[LJ7]

Far more likely to be about him being friends with Brisson's son than anything else, and he is right in that Brisson does well for his clients.

 

[Fred Glover]

So KJ is at center for Cleveland
keep him there and let him grow into the position
they drafted him as a center so develop him as a center

 

[CBJx614]

So KJ is at center for Cleveland
keep him there and let him grow into the position
they drafted him as a center so develop him as a center

5 pts in 3 games, let's hope he keeps it up.

 

[CBJx614]

Surprised nobody(myself included) has posted these yet


What a beaut of a play.





Tied for the team lead in points with 11 in 7 games.

 

[cslebn]

@Monstershockey how's KJ looking without the puck?

 

[Monstershockey]

@Monstershockey how's KJ looking without the puck?

When I have watched him without the puck, it always seems as there isn't much going on at the time and he is just waiting for something to happen. There have been a few times where he went to make a play and physically try to move a guy off the puck and not be able to. He seems good with his stick though, when it comes to poking the puck away.

He is fun to watch with the puck, as he has good vision and makes nice passes. Sometimes, he tries to do too much, or be too fancy, and things don't go so well. I think he is trying to take advantage of less talent in the AHL. Things he can get away with here, like spinning, no look passes, will get shut down in the NHL.

I would like to see him just play hard and work on being more physical. He kind of reminds me of Milano when it come to trying to make highlight reel plays. He forces it sometimes instead of just letting it happen.

He could use more time down here to work on some things, and seeing how Columbus' season is going, it would probably benefit him more. Having said that, he will probably be on the Jackets for Friday's game.

 

[Napoli]

I hope he stays down there for a while. Develop him and let him actually improve and feel super comfortable at Center. There's no need for him to be on the big squad this year.

 

[EspenK]

I hope he stays down there for a while. Develop him and let him actually improve and feel super comfortable at Center. There's no need for him to be on the big squad this year.

I 100% agree. Jackets are going nowhere this year so other than KJ taking a $ hit it is smart thing to do.

I predict he'll be back in Columbus by January.

 

[majormajor]

Things he can get away with here, like spinning, no look passes, will get shut down in the NHL.

A player like KJ, you let him do his thing. He actually has done a lot of spinning and no look passes in the NHL and made it work last year.

 

[Farmboy Patty]

A player like KJ, you let him do his thing. He actually has done a lot of spinning and no look passes in the NHL and made it work last year.

This. By no means should any coach stifle a player’s creativity. All you want is to minimize defensive responsibilities while letting em’ cook.

 

[Monstershockey]

A player like KJ, you let him do his thing. He actually has done a lot of spinning and no look passes in the NHL and made it work last year.

This. By no means should any coach stifle a player’s creativity. All you want is to minimize defensive responsibilities while letting em’ cook.

It's not about stifling his creativity, it"s more about making better decisions with the puck. There have been more than a few times where he is stick handling around a little too much trying to make a play, and it just ends up with him getting stripped of the puck. I guess I don't look at that as being creative. Same with some of the no look passes he makes. It just reminds me of Milano trying to be too fancy when it wasn't needed.

Johnson is the best passer on this team, and his creativity, to me, shows more when he is making his decisions quicker, on the fly, so to speak. Like his pass to Bemstrom the other night when he was breaking in the zone and at the last moment, slid it to Bemstrom for the goal.

 

[stevo61]

It's not about stifling his creativity, it"s more about making better decisions with the puck. There have been more than a few times where he is stick handling around a little too much trying to make a play, and it just ends up with him getting stripped of the puck. I guess I don't look at that as being creative. Same with some of the no look passes he makes. It just reminds me of Milano trying to be too fancy when it wasn't needed.

Johnson is the best passer on this team, and his creativity, to me, shows more when he is making his decisions quicker, on the fly, so to speak. Like his pass to Bemstrom the other night when he was breaking in the zone and at the last moment, slid it to Bemstrom for the goal.

Guys like Johnson need to expirement, its the best part of him being in Cleveland. You accept the turnovers as his confidence grows and he figures out what works. A big part of why rushing prospects ends in disaster or their potential is not met

 

[Monstershockey]

Guys like Johnson need to expirement, its the best part of him being in Cleveland. You accept the turnovers as his confidence grows and he figures out what works. A big part of why rushing prospects ends in disaster or their potential is not met

I didn't say anything about rushing him. I am in no hurry when it comes to him going back up. Being in Cleveland now is where you want him to develop good habits that will translate to the NHL. Letting a guy play and make mistakes doesn't grow confidence. Having him make the mistakes, then going over his decision making and coaching him up during practices is what will help him.

That's what they were trying with Milano, and he felt he could figure it out himself and that is why he never developed in the years he was here. Madden even called him out on it when he was here. Although he didn't call him out by name, it was very clear who he was talking about.

I am not bashing Johnson, I am just saying that even though he is racking up points, some of the things he was sent down for are still a ways away of being addressed. He isn't getting stronger on the puck overnight. It's easy to say that he's scoring here, he must be working out all his issues.

 

[majormajor]

Johnson is the best passer on this team, and his creativity, to me, shows more when he is making his decisions quicker, on the fly, so to speak. Like his pass to Bemstrom the other night when he was breaking in the zone and at the last moment, slid it to Bemstrom for the goal.

Which was a no look pass?

KJ has also made some spectacular assists in the NHL where he held on to pucks for a long time and had defenders sprawling all over the place and guessing wrong. We have to be careful not to take out the magic.

 

[stevo61]

I didn't say anything about rushing him. I am in no hurry when it comes to him going back up. Being in Cleveland now is where you want him to develop good habits that will translate to the NHL. Letting a guy play and make mistakes doesn't grow confidence. Having him make the mistakes, then going over his decision making and coaching him up during practices is what will help him.

That's what they were trying with Milano, and he felt he could figure it out himself and that is why he never developed in the years he was here. Madden even called him out on it when he was here. Although he didn't call him out by name, it was very clear who he was talking about.

I am not bashing Johnson, I am just saying that even though he is racking up points, some of the things he was sent down for are still a ways away of being addressed. He isn't getting stronger on the puck overnight. It's easy to say that he's scoring here, he must be working out all his issues.

Yeah seems like what they did with Milano really helped. Milano while flashy is not like KJ, KJ in his rookie season cracked 40 points which Milano has yet to do. You dont draft an offensive wizard and then stifle it. Yeah you can discuss his turnovers with him, thats called coaching but you cant sit bench him and limit icetime like they did with Milano for every turnover. I hate when coaches take the creativity out of kids, Johnson has been small his entire life compared to his opponents, those guys have escapability and see things average players dont. Grow that and take the physical growth as it comes, its gonna take time for Johnson. You can coach his defense up and good habits for sure but dont try and take the creativity away, if you cant work with those guys than dont draft them. Not everyone skill guy will be Datsyuk, especially at 21

 

[Monstershockey]

I am failing to see where anyone said to stifle his creativity or bench him for mistakes or anything like that. There is obviously a reason he is in Cleveland.

Having a guy learn to be smarter with the puck, or learn to make better and quicker decisions before getting himself into trouble is in no way an attempt to take away his ability to be creative.

He also needs to be stronger with the puck, and also stronger without it in terms of being able to get the puck from the other team. Is coaching him to do that stifling his creativity? The guy is here for a reason, and they are working on whatever they want him to work on.

 

[Souker]

This thread feels too familiar as a Habs fan… spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well. Likely will end up a winger.

 

[VT]

Yeah seems like what they did with Milano really helped. Milano while flashy is not like KJ, KJ in his rookie season cracked 40 points which Milano has yet to do. You dont draft an offensive wizard and then stifle it. Yeah you can discuss his turnovers with him, thats called coaching but you cant sit bench him and limit icetime like they did with Milano for every turnover. I hate when coaches take the creativity out of kids, Johnson has been small his entire life compared to his opponents, those guys have escapability and see things average players dont. Grow that and take the physical growth as it comes, its gonna take time for Johnson. You can coach his defense up and good habits for sure but dont try and take the creativity away, if you cant work with those guys than dont draft them. Not everyone skill guy will be Datsyuk, especially at 21

In that case, let Johnson play wing, the center can't afford to do that.

 

[ThisIsMyAlibi]

The chances of him being on the Columbus roster in 24 months are about zero percent.

 

[Farmboy Patty]

The chances of him being on the Columbus roster in 24 months are about zero percent.

How so?

 

[ThisIsMyAlibi]

How so?

It’s not clicking here. He isn’t the type of talent to take fondly to more of the up-and-down to AHL thing, healthy scratches, etc.

He’ll be identified as a “could benefit from a change of scenery” guy sooner than later. Book it.

 

[Farmboy Patty]

It’s not clicking here. He isn’t the type of talent to take fondly to more of the up-and-down to AHL thing, healthy scratches, etc.

He’ll be identified as a “could benefit from a change of scenery” guy sooner than later. Book it.

Well I guess that is a possibility, but I think it’s way too early to feel that way about him and CBJ going forward. Nothing out of the ordinary young player stuff has happened so far.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

If any team should know about how much can change in 24 months it should be this one. We went from a core of Panarin, PLD, Bob, Jones, and Werenski to Werenski and Laine in that time period.

Could KJ be gone or looking for an out in that time period? Yeah. But to just go and predict it based off of two months of struggles is a bit chicken little to me.

For all we know he could be our best player in 2 years too.

 

[LJ7]

Could KJ be gone or looking for an out in that time period? Yeah. But to just go and predict it based off of two months of struggles is a bit chicken little to me.

Not only that, the "struggles" are him excelling as a 1C in the AHL as a 21 year old. I think he's being set up for success and should be the least of our worries as fans.

He is a complete hockey nerd and I'm not worried about his pride being damaged, as long as he is confident and happy with his rate of growth and development I think he will be fine here. Since he's completely obsessed with his own growth as a player I think he's well suited to handle a development stint.