Is Johnson a #1 dman?

[chessgoon]

I think his skating and defense are both good, and he's physical enough, but his passing and shooting skills are only average for a dman. He gets his shots from the point blocked an awful lot (especially against Minn), and they turn into odd man rushes fairly often. I know his game has come on over the past year, which I'm happy about, but I think he is about as good as he'll ever be offensively. He doesn't have much of a scoring touch, or a knack for making a good pass. He's very predictable with the puck. When you take away his primary passing lanes, he seems at a loss how to proceed. I guess he could be part of a top pairing, if it was with an offensively gifted player. But he seems unable to exploit positional openings of the opposition, and get the puck on net when necessary.

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[The Mars Volchenkov]

I'm not sure why you think his passing is average. He's got a great breakout pass, and can skate it out when necessary as well.

His shot and shot selection are the weakest part of his game.

 

[landy92mack29]

I'm not sure why you think his passing is average. He's got a great breakout pass, and can skate it out when necessary as well.

His shot and shot selection are the weakest part of his game.

his shot is good he just cant get it through which is a big problem

 

[ASmileyFace]

If Johnson could start finding holes when he shoots he'd be good for 15-20 goals a season imo.

 

[shadow1]

Yes, he's been even better than he was last season. His skating and defensive play have been unbelievable.

A night and day difference from two seasons ago.

 

[cgf]

This is HF, so no, but he's one of the 15 best dmen in the NHL.

 

[PAZ]

his shot is good he just cant get it through which is a big problem

IMO, his shot includes his shot selection.

 

[The Shermanator]

Depends on the definition. The 30 best D-men in the league could all be #1 D-men right? So ya.

 

[El_Loco_Avs]

IMO, his shot includes his shot selection.

That would make it hard to separate bad shooters from dumb shooters like EJ.

If EJ gets some space he can really shoot well, he's just... completely, utterly, unbelievably bad at getting it past defenders. It's amazing really.

 

[m0ngr31]

That would make it hard to separate bad shooters from dumb shooters like EJ.

If EJ gets some space he can really shoot well, he's just... completely, utterly, unbelievably bad at getting it past defenders. It's amazing really.

Was it game 3 or 4 in the playoffs last year when in the final seconds of the game he shot it like 5x into the defenders shins right in front of him?

 

[Freudian]

EJ needs to realize you don't have time to settle down the puck and wind up when you shoot in today's NHL. Players are too good at getting in lanes. It's better shooting quickly.

Also he often shoots a wrist shot into a guy that's already in the shooting lane. At least move a bit sideways so the guy blocking has to adjust his position.

It's frustrating because you'd think it would be easily fixable, but when we're in year seven of The Silence of the Shinpads, it doesn't seem that way.

 

[avs1dacup]

Quite easily, yes. He plays against the top competition and is one of the best in the league at shutting them down. He's physical when he needs to be and plays well positionally most of the time. His offensive game isn't top notch, but it's not bad by any stretch. He's got flaws, like all defenseman, but he's a top 15 defenseman and only turns 27 in March. If that's not a #1 defenseman, then there are only 3 or 4 #1 defensemen in the entire league

 

[tigervixxxen]

He's certainly a #1 for us and not because of the [insert defense jab here].

In preseason he was shooting more, not to shinpad of death shot but more pinching down and shooting like how Barrie does it. That could prove more successful for him.

It was a bit ironic that Hejda is the one who got the assist on the GWG in Boston and not EJ but he had his shinpad moment 10 seconds earlier.

 

[landy92mack29]

IMO, his shot includes his shot selection.

that's more awareness

 

[Foppa2118]

EJ needs to realize you don't have time to settle down the puck and wind up when you shoot in today's NHL. Players are too good at getting in lanes. It's better shooting quickly.

Also he often shoots a wrist shot into a guy that's already in the shooting lane. At least move a bit sideways so the guy blocking has to adjust his position.

It's frustrating because you'd think it would be easily fixable, but when we're in year seven of The Silence of the Shinpads, it doesn't seem that way.

I think he learned that lesson last year. He clearly changed his approach and got shots off much, much quicker, and had a lot of success as a result. There was talk of Tourigny doing shooting drills with him with a stop watch, and I think that helped him a lot. It's too early right now to tell if he's gotten away from it.

 

[avsfan09]

A lot of the time it seems like Johnson gets angry and tries to smash the puck through the blockers haha. They are clearly in the way and he still takes a huge windup only to fire it into there legs/chest.

He is still working on it. I noticed last year he used the boards behind the net a lot. Funny thing is though if you look at the highlights from his rookie season he seemed to get shots through.

 

[El_Loco_Avs]

Was it game 3 or 4 in the playoffs last year when in the final seconds of the game he shot it like 5x into the defenders shins right in front of him?

Oh god don't remind me.

 

[InjuredChoker]

absolutely.

that's why i'm little terrified how much he has been hunting other teams players with his hits. long suspension, accidental injury, retribution etc.. we can't lose him for long periods. other than that, i like how he's showing his mean streak again. keeps opposing players more aware of him, won't attack him as hard, dump the puck in more instead of trying to challenge him etc. all good things for us.

 

[Avs71]

absolutely.

that's why i'm little terrified how much he has been hunting other teams players with his hits. long suspension, accidental injury, retribution etc.. we can't lose him for long periods. other than that, i like how he's showing his mean streak again. keeps opposing players more aware of him, won't attack him as hard, dump the puck in more instead of trying to challenge him etc. all good things for us.

I love it. With the way he is moving now, he is going to catch some players with real hard hits. It would be a good reputation for him to have, and the Avs to have.

Yes, he is a #1 defenceman. He isn't top-15, but he would have to be right there in the 20s range. It looks like he is going to be playing around 25 or 26 minutes a night, in the games he doesn't get kick out from. If he was better at getting his shot through, he'd fly up the rankings. Everything he does is really good, except get shots through.

Even last year. Over 23 minutes a night, basically 40 points, while playing against the top players every night. Not sure how people think that's not #1 defenceman quality, especially considering he doesn't get the benefit of a partner who is also first pairing quality. His partners since coming to Colorado: Shane O'Brien, JML, Matt Hunwick, Ryan Wilson, Greg Zanon, Kyle Quincey, Brad Stuart, Nick Holden. If that isn't the worst list of defence partners, I don't know what would be.

If his name was John Smith, and he was picked 23rd overall, people would really like him. Since his name is Erik "lol picked before Toews" Johnson, he will eternally be considered a let down.

 

[Ceremony]

Yes.

And I agree that his uh... exuberant new play style could be quite dangerous.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Easily. No question. Personally I like he is doing Blake impressions and trying to hit people. Loved seeing Blake do that. Like others said, only thing he is lacking atm is his shot. Its getting blocked wayy too much.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

I think his skating and defense are both good, and he's physical enough, but his passing and shooting skills are only average for a dman. He gets his shots from the point blocked an awful lot (especially against Minn), and they turn into odd man rushes fairly often. I know his game has come on over the past year, which I'm happy about, but I think he is about as good as he'll ever be offensively. He doesn't have much of a scoring touch, or a knack for making a good pass. He's very predictable with the puck. When you take away his primary passing lanes, he seems at a loss how to proceed. I guess he could be part of a top pairing, if it was with an offensively gifted player. But he seems unable to exploit positional openings of the opposition, and get the puck on net when necessary.

Well, he had 39 points last year, which was good enough for 26th amongst Dmen. If that's average....

 

[tigervixxxen]

If his name was John Smith, and he was picked 23rd overall, people would really like him. Since his name is Erik "lol picked before Toews" Johnson, he will eternally be considered a let down.

Yep, this is a huge thing about perception and why he will never get the respect he deserves.

 

[The Shermanator]

Was it game 3 or 4 in the playoffs last year when in the final seconds of the game he shot it like 5x into the defenders shins right in front of him?

One of his greatest moments

 

[InjuredChoker]

Was it game 3 or 4 in the playoffs last year when in the final seconds of the game he shot it like 5x into the defenders shins right in front of him?

against mikael granlund. ****ing finnish media couldn't stop talking about it, still pisses me off so much.