It’s entirely possible that the University of Michigan men’s hockey team is going to have three of its freshmen selected in the top ten of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, which is absolutely unheard of for a college team. We’ve been talking about defenseman Owen Power as a potential number one pick for some time, and the world got to see what Matty Beniers can do at the World Junior championship (and you’ll see a lot of him in this profile), but what about Kent Johnson?
The incredibly skilled forward spent the last two seasons playing for the Trail Smoke Eaters in the BCHL before coming across the border to play college hockey this season. All he’s done this year is be the second leading point scorer on a team with serious championship potential as one of the youngest players in all of college hockey. You may remember him from this dazzling goal he scored earlier in the year:
That incredible move is just some of what Johnson brings to the table as an offensive weapon. While he’s a very complete offensive player, his calling card at higher levels of hockey is going to be his playmaking ability.
He’s able to fit his passes into tight windows, which is especially important when setting up teammates in front of the net:
He’s able to create space for his teammates in transition and set them up accordingly:
And he has the smarts to know who’s open without looking at his target:
The above clip shows how he uses his hockey IQ to his advantage. While on the power play, he recognizes all four of the opposition’s players are below the goal line, meaning he’s got two teammates all alone in front. He delivers the beautiful no-look pass that sets up the goal.
He uses his offensive instincts very well to draw defenders near him. Notice how as soon as he curls back towards the goal line, two defenders are on him. He instantly recognizes it, waits for the opening, and sets up the mini two-on-one.
Johnson also does a great job under pressure along the boards, which isn’t something you’d expect out of a player who weighs in at 165 pounds. Even when pinned against the boards by a player substantially larger than him, he’s still able to set up a dangerous chance with pure effort.
And he’s very good at fighting through checks and keeping the play alive, as evident here:
We see a lot of playmakers having specific tricks they like to pull out of the bag regularly, and Johnson is no different. He loves using the behind the back, no-look pass, but he also utilizes this pass from behind the net:
Another piece of the playmaking skillset is having great hands and puck control, and Johnson certainly fits the bill here. Look at the insane stickhandling he shows as soon as he picks the puck up off the draw:
And the quick moves he shows off to keep the cycle going:
Remember the highlight reel goal he scored against Minnesota earlier in the year? Imagine if he was able to pull this one off:
It’s clear that Johnson has the skillset to be an amazing playmaker at the professional level, but what about his abilities as a goal scorer? While he won’t be scoring 40 goals a season in the NHL, Johnson’s shot is definitely still a weapon that the opposition needs to respect.
He’s got a pretty quick release, as he’s able to go from stickhandling to shooting very quickly:
His shot isn’t overly powerful, but he’s shown he can pick the corners from a standstill:
And as we saw earlier, his backhand is definitely a force to be reckoned with:
He’s got the right instincts to get into scoring areas as well, as he would’ve had a much better chance at scoring here had the puck been delivered a second later:
Make no mistake, Johnson’s playmaking ability is what’s going to be associated with him the most leading up to the draft. But a lot of the little things he does on the ice stand out to me more than anything.
Take the follow play for example. As Johnson showcases his solid skating ability to gain the zone, he evaluates his options and the clear play is to dump the puck and let his linemate (Beniers) go and get it. Instead, Johnson makes a very quick fake to throw off both defensemen and cleanly set up in the offensive zone:
The quick stutter fake he utilizes here does two things; it doesn’t allow the defenseman on him to rub him off on the wall, and it forces the weak side to defender to stay in front instead of following Beniers down low. This gives Johnson a clean, safe outlet and now the Wolverines are in business.
Another play that really stood out to me was this breakout against Ohio State. Instead of quickly advancing the puck up the wall, Johnson recognizes that F2 on the forecheck is attacking the puck instead of his body. He baits the forechecker and then makes the fake to get by him, and then sets up the breakout to the wide-open ice.
Utilizing open ice is part of what Johnson does so well in the neutral zone. On the following play, a lot of players are going to golf a bouncing puck forward to create some sort of race for the puck on the boards. But Johnson sees how far back the weak side defender is and wants to take that open ice rather than creating a situation where his team is outnumbered in a battle. He cuts back and moves the puck into the open ice, where he collects it and has a clean zone entry.
These sort of smarts in transition are going to help Johnson generate a ton of offense at the professional level. Combining that with his raw playmaking ability and puck control gives him the potential to be a lethal offensive facilitator in the pros.
Defensively, Johnson isn’t anything super special. Although he isn’t a defensive liability, he doesn’t do anything exceptional that leads me to believe he’ll be an elite two-way player. He hasn’t gotten a ton of time on the penalty kill this season, but when he has, he’s shown well enough to warrant more PK time. In the clip below, Johnson does a good job of working within the rotation and pressures the puck when the opposition doesn’t have full possession. Nothing special, but the textbook way to kill penalties.
When defending in the defensive zone, he shows a willingness to sacrifice the body and get into shooting lanes. The effort he puts in on this one stood out to me in particular.
So far, everything we’ve touched on with Johnson has been dandelions and roses. The biggest red flag I see in Johnson’s game is that he tries to do too much at times and needs to make the simple play often times.
On this play, there’s no reason why Johnson couldn’t have made a backhand pass towards the boards where Beniers could’ve picked it up as he was swinging. Instead, he gets too cute and turns it over on the breakout.
Here’s another example of Johnson trying to be too cute. If he shoots the puck as soon as he gets it, it’s an easy goal. Instead, he moves the puck to his backhand and sends a weak backhand towards the net.
Simplifying the game is something that Johnson needs to work on as his career progresses. As much offense he creates by making plays like that, there are certainly times when the simple play would be much more effective. Eliminating mistakes like these will only drive the offense up.
All in all, Johnson has a very high ceiling as a playmaking winger in the NHL. The biggest question is whether or not he’ll be able to round out his game a bit more, add some muscle to his frame and eliminate the silly mistakes. Even with the few minor warts in his game right now, I believe the floor for Johnson is an above-average top six playmaking winger, while his ceiling is a legitimate top line offensive driver. Look for him to be selected somewhere in the top 10 come draft day.
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