Kent Johnson is coming off one of the most impressive rookie seasons in Blue Jackets history, and it feels like the potential of the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 draft is just being tapped.
A high-scoring star at the University of Michigan, Johnson debuted late in the 2021-22 season and became a regular last year, finishing with 16 goals among his 40 points in 79 games. Those numbers were notable for such a young player, as Johnson placed sixth among NHL rookies in goals and fifth in points. He also rewrote the CBJ record book, placing third among Blue Jackets rookies all-time in scoring.
With his creativity – see the lone “Michigan” lacrosse-style goal in the NHL last season – and vision, Johnson seems set to take an even bigger step forward.
The soon-to-be 21-year-old – his birthday is Oct. 18 – met with BlueJackets.com late last week to talk about his summer and the upcoming season. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
I’ll start by asking you about summer. What was it like for you? You went home, right?
“I went on one trip right after the season for a week and then back to Vancouver. I love it there in the summer. I can see all my friends, train, hang with them, golf with them a bit. It really was fun. I love being in Vancouver in the summers.”
That has to be a great place to spend the summer.
“Yeah, I love it. It’s perfect for me because it rains so much in the winter and people complain about it, and then I come back and it’s usually pretty nice out. I have all my buddies there. I really enjoy training with them and pushing each other.”
The summer before, it seemed like you were always playing hockey, taking part in the World Championships and World Juniors. It was different this past summer, wasn’t it?
“It was way different. It was definitely weird. It felt like a long summer. I am definitely itching to get back in some games and play hockey, but it was nice to be able to spend more time with my friends and family back home and more time in the gym for me, which was really big. It was good for my body, I think.”
You still played roller hockey this summer. How much does that help? It’s a different game, but I’d have to think it allows you to work on some things you can’t necessarily do in an NHL game.
“Yeah, I think it’s good. The puck is lighter and it’s harder to handle; it bounces a lot, so you have to be really sharp with your passing and hands. I think it’s actually something that’s helped my hands growing up. And it’s fun, so why would I stop doing it if it helped me get here?"
You mentioned hitting the gym. Obviously that’s a narrative with you, is that you need to get a little bit stronger. Did you feel like you accomplished what you wanted to this offseason?
“Definitely. I’m proud of the effort I put in. I’m excited. It hopefully should help just lasting the whole season, try to stay healthy and obviously help the team a lot.”
You’re a guy that it’s hard to keep the weight on, it seems like.
“Definitely. A lot of people say when you’re younger, you might get to an age where it gets easier to put on weight, but definitely for me I feel like I’m trying to stuff myself every meal and eat all the time to gain weight or keep it on. It is what it is.”
Everyone says you need to get bigger, but you didn’t miss any time last year, so you must be doing something right.
“Yeah, there’s obviously going to be narratives out there I don’t love, but it’s nice if I can prove some people wrong and stay healthy in my career. But to me, it’s out of my control. Hopefully I can do my best to stay healthy. That would be great.”
Maybe I’m speculating a bit, but in the first preseason game, you had a shot where you dragged it in before the release, and you almost looked like (friend and No. 1 overall pick) Connor Bedard. Have you been working on that with him?
“Honestly, I’ve been working on it for a couple of summers now, a few summers with him, but I think it’s starting to click a little bit more. I had one goal like that last year, but hopefully I can have some more like that. But you’re right. He was watching the game actually and we were talking about it. He liked it. I definitely try to work on that with him a lot in the summer, and I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it. But obviously not like him.”
When you think about your game, your vision and creativity are off the charts, but if you can have a shot like that to keep goalies and defenses honest, do you feel like that can help your game?
“Definitely. Sixteen goals is not a bad start, but I want to score a lot more. I have to keep working on my shot and finding ways to get more shots off and whatnot. I think it’s a big thing if I can get a lot more shots off through traffic. That’s what Connor is really good at, so I’ve worked on that with him. We’ll see how it goes.”
You had a long offseason, so you probably had time to think about how last year went. What’s the No. 1 thing you learned about playing in the NHL last year that you didn’t know?
“I think the biggest thing is you can call our team unlucky with the injuries, and I’m sure a lot of that is luck, but it’s hard to play 82 games. It’s going to be something to work on a lot in the summer and during the season, taking care of the body. That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned. I didn’t realize how much on every team, guys get hurt in the NHL. So I just try to do my best in the summer and during the season to make sure my body is feeling good going into every game.”
