First Shift: Johnston reaches for new heights

Wyatt Johnston’s maturity is a beautiful thing to watch.

The 20-year-old was the rare teenager playing in the NHL last season. We’ve documented how much he has been helped by living with Joe Pavelski and playing on a line with Jamie Benn. But just three games into the 2023-24 campaign, Johnston looks like an even better player. That shouldn’t be surprising, he has 100 NHL games under his belt now. But even after missing much of training camp with an injury, Johnston has looked great so far.

“The limited looks we have had with him at camp, he looks like he has actually taken a step forward,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “He looks stronger, faster. He looks dangerous when he’s out there.”

Johnston has one assist and seven shots on goal in three games, so he’s not tearing up the stat sheet just yet, but he is averaging 18:12 in time on ice per game, up from 15:29 last season.

“I was a little surprised in the first game because I felt really good, and I wasn’t expecting to feel that good,” Johnston said. “I was kind of expecting to be a little sluggish. But overall I feel great. You can look at it as I didn’t get as much ice time and not as much preparation, but then you could look at it as maybe I got more rest so now I have more legs for the rest of the season.”

The coaching staff is trusting him more in defensive situations, like on the penalty kill, and is using him more in the faceoff circle. Johnston won 43.3 percent of his draws last season and is winning 50 percent this year.

Dallas led the NHL in faceoff winning percentage last season, but lost Luke Glendening (who won 59.1 percent) to free agency. Johnston will likely take up some of the slack, although he is on a roster with five teammates who won more than 50 percent last season.

“It makes it a lot easier for a guy like me to learn off of them,” Johnston said. “You can see how many different styles the guys have and how they approach things. There are different little tricks they have that I’m trying to learn from.”

“And as far as penalty kill and stuff like that, it’s talking to the coaching staff and teammates,” Johnston added. “Last year was a big learning process for me, but I think you’re always learning and trying to improve.”

The journey of learning will continue on Friday at home against the Flyers.

Key Numbers

6-0-0
The Stars are 6-0-0 in their past six meetings with the Flyers, outscoring them 27-8 in that span.

7
Roope Hintz has seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in a five-game point streak against the Flyers. Jason Robertson has six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in four career games against Philadelphia.

166
With his power play goal on Thursday against Anaheim, Joe Pavelski moved to 166 in his career. That’s 3rd most among U.S.-born players all-time.

He Said It

"He played every shift against him, except one, and they scored. It was after a power play, because Sean was on a power play and we went with some different people. He played every shift. If I didn’t give him the shift, he'd probably be looking over his shoulder at me wanting to get back out there."

- Flyers coach John Tortorella on center Sean Couturier facing Connor McDavid in a 4-1 win over the Oilers on Thursday. Couturier had two assists and was plus-3.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.