"I'm very thankful we did all our due diligence. Jack Eichel helped out a lot doing a lot of that for me as well," Johnson said.
"I wouldn't say it was talking a lot, but probably two or three phone calls that lasted a little while. [Eichel] was unbelievable in the whole process, even post-op explaining to me what he was doing recovery-wise and what his plans were going forward so we could kind of put things together."
Eichel became the first NHL player to have ADR on Nov. 12, eight days after he was acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres, who preferred for Eichel to have a fusion procedure done.
Johnson said the Blackhawks didn't give him any pushback about the surgery.
"[Chicago] as a whole was unbelievable," Johnson said. "They said right away to do whatever I felt was in my best interest. I spoke to a lot of doctors. There were a couple of doctors that obviously weren't too sure about it, but the majority of them thought it was a great procedure."
Prior to having surgery, Eichel said that he thought he would be able to return to play in three months and that in six months he expected to feel "100 percent, back to normal." He made his debut with Vegas against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 16.
Johnson returned for Chicago's 4-3 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, exactly three months following surgery.
"We had different doctors, but pretty much the same timelines as far as what they said, so it was nice having somebody else that was going through it at the same time as me to be able to kind of lean on and say, 'Hey did you have this? Did you feel this? What can you, can't do' type of thing," Johnson said.
Johnson, who has scored three points (one goal, two assists) in 10 games this season, his first with the Blackhawks, said he originally injured his neck in either 2017 or 2018, when he was playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
He aggravated the injury following a hit he took in a preseason game, then again when he was checked by Carolina Hurricanes forward Vincent Trocheck on Oct. 29.
"With the [ADR], they say that normally you feel how you were before, but to be honest, I feel better," Johnson said. "I haven't been able to sleep on my stomach in probably four years because of this, and now I'm able to do that, so that's pretty cool. It's honestly crazy. I don't wake up in the morning with a stiff neck anymore, so I'm pretty happy about it.
"Physically, I feel great. I don't have anything that I would consider a setback or limitations or anything like that. Obviously, spending that much time away from the game is tough mentally, trying to get back into it a little bit as far as decision-making, things like that. I've never spent that much time away from the ice, whether it'd be summer or whatnot."
