Johnson was signed by Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent on March 7, 2011, and has 211 points (89 goals, 122 assists) in 308 regular-season games and 42 points (21 goals, 21 assists) in 47 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Lightning. Johnson made the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2013-14 when he had 50 points (24 goals, 26 assists) in 82 games, and played in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game.
The Lightning failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season after qualifying the previous three seasons. Tampa Bay lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, and was defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games in the 2016 Eastern Conference Final.
"We had two successful playoff runs [in 2015 and 2016] and it was tough missing out on the playoffs last season," Johnson said. "It's frustrating to know how close we were and didn't get there, especially after the success we had in the two previous years. I know every one of the guys in the locker room are itching to get back on the ice so we can start working toward getting back to the playoffs right away."
After signing Johnson, the Lightning have about $8.6 million in salary cap space, according to CapFriendly.com. Tampa Bay still needs to sign restricted free agent forward Ondrej Palat to a contract.
The Lightning can sign right wing Nikita Kucherov to a contract extension beginning July 1, 2018. He signed a three-year, $14.3 million contract with an average annual value of $4.766 million as a restricted free agent on Oct. 11.