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Johnsson scored 13 goals and 35 points in 71 games during the 2021-22 campaign but fell out of favor last year. He totaled just three assists in 13 games with the Devils and Sharks. The 28-year-old winger also racked up 42 points in 36 AHL games. Johnsson inked a one-year deal with the Penguins this offseason and will enter training camp competing for a bottom-six role. He'll likely spend a chunk of his time as a healthy scratch or suit up for some AHL action again in 2023-24.
Johnsson was in and out of the lineup in his second season with New Jersey, ultimately missing 11 of the team's 82 games. He was reasonably effective (13 goals, 35 points) when healthy, but Johnsson's lack of production with the man advantage helps to torpedo any potential fantasy value he may have. Johnsson has registered exactly one power-play point each of the past two seasons and that seems unlikely to change given the forward depth the Devils added in the offseason. You can do better on draft day.
Johnsson's first season with the Devils didn't go very well -- he logged 11 points in 50 games, shooting 7.7 percent while seeing his ice time tumble to 13:56 per game. After earning a middle-six role with the Maple Leafs, it was a surprise to see the Swede often play no higher than the third line with New Jersey in 2020-21. The good news for Johnsson is that he's likely to rebound to shooting around 10 percent, and he should still see power-play time. A strong start to the season could get him back on a scoring line alongside either Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier, but the 26-year-old Johnsson probably can't afford a slow start. He's worth a look as a depth forward in the late rounds of fantasy drafts assuming he gets back to his established scoring pace.
Johnsson missed large chunks of the 2019-20 campaign with two separate leg injuries, but he was decent when healthy, notching eight goals, 13 assists and 78 shots on goal while averaging 15:45 of ice time in 43 games with the Maple Leafs. Toronto traded the 26-year-old Swede to New Jersey in order to open up some cap space in October, and he's poised to jump into a top-six role as well as a spot on the second power-play unit with the Devils in 2020-21. Johnsson will have the potential to play at a 15-plus goal, 40-plus point pace with New Jersey this season, but that won't make him anything more than a fringe bench option at best in most fantasy formats.
Johnsson is a player on the rise. He delivered a solid 20-goal, 43-point rookie campaign last year, but his last 28 regular-season games were particularly outstanding -- he delivered at a 30-goal, 60-point pace over that span. That performance earned Johnsson a four-year contract with a team-friendly $3.4 million cap hit. He'll skate on a scoring line beside either Auston Matthews or John Tavares in 2019-20, and should get time on the top power-play unit with Toronto's best. That 60-point plateau should come easy this season. Johnsson will be hard to pass on draft day.
Once upon a time, there was this asthmatic Swedish kid who struggled in junior. He apparently had no clue he had the condition. Neither did the Leafs when they rolled the dice on him with the 10th-to-last pick (202nd) in the 2013 draft. A diagnosis, a few puffers and his game took off. Now at 23, Johnsson delivered a brilliant regular AHL season that culminated in 24 points in a 16-game playoff run to the Calder Cup and a playoff MVP award. He has elite hands, speed and hockey IQ, not to mention a work ethic that's off the charts -- he's Swedish, after all. Johnsson will likely start the season on the third line (fourth line at worst), but his future is in the top six. Dynasty owners should pay very serious heed.
