The Minnesota Wild grade reports keep flowing in, and this time, it’s for Marcus Johansson who’s had a complex reputation with Wild fans. “JoJo” as his teammates call him, joined the Wild for the second time shortly before the trade deadline in 2023. He started his journey with Minnesota looking strong in a short stint, but once he returned for a full season, things looked a little different.
Johansson’s season was complicated. On paper, he had a strong offensive season, but watching him play, things could’ve been better. Without the postseason, we’ll rely on his regular-season performance for a grade. We’ll examine a rough part of his game and a strong part of his game and then combine those for a grade.
Johansson’s Defensive Game Lacks
Johansson isn’t a defenseman, but every player on the team has to take responsibility in the defensive zone when they can. This includes blocking shots, pushing opponents to the outside, and breaking the puck out efficiently. Johansson contributed more blocked shots than some of his teammates, but he could’ve done better.
He played in 78 games for the Wild and had 29 blocked shots, which tied him for 17th place on the roster. This was shared with Jared Spurgeon, who only played 16 games. It’s understandable that he wouldn’t have as many blocked shots as the top defensemen on the Wild, but he could’ve done slightly more to help.
The other area he needs to improve on, more than his blocked shots, is his turnovers. He made a difference offensively, but he also gave up the puck 33 times, which was one of the highest on the team. Only five players were higher than he was, and they all handled the puck more than Johansson.
He has to improve his puck handling for this coming season so he doesn’t turn over the puck as much. That was a big issue with the entire team, but certain players were worse than others, and that can’t happen if they want to win games. Hopefully, Johansson can find a way to improve this part of his game before this coming season starts.
Johansson Finds Offense
Johansson is known for his speed and making a break for the net to score. He hasn’t gotten career numbers in the past few seasons, but this past season, he found a way to increase his points. He scored 11 times and assisted on 19 other goals for 30 points. He hasn’t been a big point producer over…
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