Andreas Johnsson not only brings this nickname with him from his former team in Toronto, but he also brings a set of skills needed in the Devils' top six. Johnsson, 26, was acquired via trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 10, in exchange for Joey Anderson. It was a case of General Manager Tom Fitzgerald weaponizing cap space in order to secure an important role player.
Back in October, Fitzgerald expressed why he believed Johnsson was a good fit with this Devils club.
"Andreas is a hard-working, competitive forward who can slot up and down the lineup," the GM said. "The overall versatility of his game will be a great complement to our center men, with his skating, quickness, and scoring touch."
Seems like a good puzzle piece.
The Devils are a young team this season. They will be relying on players within their first handful of NHL seasons to play bigger roles and take steps forward in their development.
This means those young players will need complementary, veteran talent. Players, like Johnsson, who have been around a few years. Players, like Johnsson, who know how to take over games, to play multiple roles and do so the right way. Ultimately, this means Johnsson is in line to play some significant minutes in black and red.
"To come to New Jersey, it's a nice spot," he said on Friday from camp. "They're kind of in a rebuild here. They have a lot of young, skilled players. It's just exciting to come in and see my opportunity to play big minutes."
Johnsson was a seventh-round pick who honed his craft in the minors before becoming a 20-goal scorer in the National Hockey League with the Leafs in 2018-19. He has proven he's a hard worker, so it's highly likely he'll make it work in Jersey. He has also displayed an ability to play up and down an NHL lineup. As different young players on the roster hit different points in their development, Johnsson becomes a moveable asset with no fixed spot in the lineup, but there should always be a role to play.
As camp continues, all of the players on the Devils' preliminary roster are jockeying for position in the eyes of the staff and decision-makers. Johnsson will use this as a situation to prove his worth to his new franchise and, hopefully, score a bunch of goals, to ultimately help the Devils win some hockey games. Competition amongst the young players and Johnsson should help spark progress.
"Here they're all young and coming up in a rebuild," Johnsson said. "They're fighting for spots. It's a big opportunity right from the beginning."
It will be interesting to see how high Mango can... go.
