Perseverance Pays Off: Marc Johnstone's Unconventional Path to the NHL

As Marc Johnstone stood in the runway at Amerant Bank Arena in Florida, waiting to take the ice for his solo rookie lap ahead of his NHL debut with Pittsburgh on Friday against the Panthers, he couldn’t stop smiling.

That made the moment he stepped onto the ice even more poignant for his parents Thomas and Robin, who had flown in from New Jersey to be there.

“He still loves the game, and you can see it when he’s out there. Even though it's on this big stage, he loves it like when he was five years old and he was playing it,” Thomas said. “So, for us, we were trying to keep it together. But then when he finally stepped onto the ice, it was pretty emotional.”

“It's kind of surreal,” added Robin. “And at the same time, it looks like the same little boy that's always been playing. Like, it's crazy to believe that he's here and he has this opportunity. But he still just looks like our Marc playing mite hockey.”

What a path it has been for Johnstone since those days, which he found himself reflecting on after getting the news that he would be achieving his lifelong goal of playing in the NHL.

“My journey’s a little bit different than a lot of guys in the room,” he said. “But can't take anything for granted. You just got to keep going to work every day, and it's possible for anyone, it doesn't matter where you start. You just got to keep pushing towards your goal.”

For Marc’s parents, when they think back on how he got here, perseverance is the first word that comes to mind.

“He just kept with it for so many years, and through so many different obstacles in his career,” Thomas said. “Lot of uphill battles, where he starts to maybe doubt that he's good enough to do it, but he stays with it. And sure enough, step by step, he gets here. He’s had great coaches, great mentors…”

“And he’s an incredible human,” Robin said.

“Marc’s an incredible guy,” Thomas agreed. “He's a great son, he's a great brother, he's an absolute super person, and he's just always been that way. All he really wants to do is put the team first. He just wants the team to win the game. He doesn't really care too much about how he plays. He's interested in helping the team win the game. So, he's had a pretty incredible journey.”

After playing youth hockey in his home state of New Jersey, the Cranford native didn’t make the United States Hockey League until he was 19 years old, playing two seasons for Chicago. He represented his team as an alternate captain in 2015-16 and served as captain the following year, leading the Steel to a Clark Cup.

Johnstone then played four years at Sacred Heart University, a smaller NCAA school, before joining the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays for five games following the conclusion of his collegiate career. He then played parts of two seasons on an ECHL-level contract with the Newfoundland Growlers, who are affiliated with Toronto, which turned out to be a tremendous opportunity.

At the end of that second year, Johnstone played four games with the Marlies of the American Hockey League, and left a good impression. He earned an AHL contract for the 2022-23 campaign, picking up nine goals and 22 points in 69 games with the Marlies.

After Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas came to Pittsburgh following the end of his tenure in Toronto, he signed Johnstone to his first NHL contract, a two-year, two-way deal. After starting the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and appearing in 21 games, the Penguins – who are dealing with an influx of injuries, as Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Noel Acciari, and Matt Nieto are all sidelined – decided to bring Johnstone up to Pittsburgh.

“I know he brings a lot of energy,” Head Coach Mike Sullivan said. “He's a north-south guy. He's good on the forecheck. He's hard to play against. He can kill penalties. He's been very effective for Wilkes-Barre this year.”

When Marc tried getting ahold of his parents yesterday to let them know he’d gotten recalled, they missed his call, but quickly returned it and learned the exciting news. “We weren't sure he would actually play, but we were just super excited that they thought enough of him to call him up,” Thomas said.

Thomas immediately started looking for flights and hotels, booking his accommodations first before moving on to his wife and kids (Marc has two brothers and two sisters). At that point, Penguins Director of Team Operations Jason Seidling checked in to see if he could help out, taking care of the rest of the family – though Thomas admitted that one daughter had gotten forgotten about amidst all of the craziness.

“So, I went back and booked her ticket,” he said with a laugh. “So Jason and the Penguins, it was an amazing experience the way they took care of us. Got us to the game today here, and here we are.”

Marc was thrilled that they all made it down to watch him play, where he logged just under seven minutes of ice time playing right wing on the fourth line with Jansen Harkins on the left and Jonathan Gruden at center.

Johnstone felt like the night went pretty well, though he was on the ice for a goal against in the 3-1 loss, “which was a negative part of the game. There’s a lot to work on, I gotta be a little more physical, did a good job on the wall. But just keep being that agitator, that energy guy that the team needs.”