Vegas Golden Knights should go after Marcus Johansson in free agency

This offseason will be all about tinkering the roster for the Vegas Golden Knights, rather than undertaking a vast overhaul.

With a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in their inaugural season under their belts, coupled with a second consecutive trip to the playoffs this year, the Vegas Golden Knights are a contender and they will be again heading into 2019-20.

They can boast a deep and talented roster and will be able to roll out a top six forward unit that has enough firepower to sink a fleet of battleships.

So, as such, the front office won’t be looking to add a marquee signing this summer having already added a number of cornerstone pieces in the ilk of Mark Stone, Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty.

Instead, the Golden Knights will be looking to pad out their roster with one or two role players who can make an impact lower down the lineup and provide secondary scoring which is a must for any team with aspirations of winning a championship.

Free agency will present Vegas with the best chance of picking up a couple of additional weapons and there will be a plethora of elite superstars hitting the open market come July, 1.

However, the Knights won’t be dining at the top table of free agency given their salary cap constraints, so we can quickly rule out a potential blockbuster move for the likes of Artemi Panarin, Jeff Skinner or Matt Duchene.

But fear not because there are a boatload of polished gems that will be available at a reasonable price, including a player who has been on an absolute tear in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Marcus Johansson has been on one hell of a resurgence since being traded to the Boston Bruins as a rental by the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline.

After posting just one goal and two assists for three points in ten games to finish the regular season, Johansson has been a man reborn in the postseason and is showing signs of the potential that followed him into the league back in 2010 with the Washington Capitals.

The 28-year-old has tallied three goals and six assists for nine points in 14 playoff appearances, including the game winning tuck against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 as the Bruins now stand on the brink of going to their third Stanley Cup Finals in the last nine years after taking a commanding 3-0 series lead against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Johansson is certainly doing his stock no harm ahead of hitting the open market and his postseason exploits will likely land him a long list of suitors and a big pay day.

And we’re now going to look at the pros and cons when it comes to the Vegas Golden Knights considering getting in on the Marcus Johansson sweepstakes in free agency.

Pros

For starters, Johansson has shown this postseason that he’s built for the big stage and is more than capable of delivering when the chips are really down and the pressure is on.

His three playoff goals so far have all carried hefty significance, starting with his Game 7 winner against the Maple Leafs in Round One and then carrying on with the insurance goal in Game 6 against the Columbus Blue Jackets before the tuck that tied things up in Game 1 against Carolina and laid the foundations for a victorious comeback.

Not only can he score but Johansson has shown a deft touch when it comes to creating chances for his team mates. He laid on a beautiful dish for Steven Kampfer’s first-ever playoff goal in Game 1 against the Hurricanes, and he was at it again in Game 2 after finding Matt Grzelcyk with all the precision of a fine marksman.

His blistering speed has caused problems galore in the postseason and he would be the perfect foil for Erik Haula and Alex Tuch on the third line for Vegas – just imagine the damage those three could cause.

Johansson would be ideal for a third line role given that he can excel in the defensive zone too, as backed up by his 27 takeaways, 23 hits and 18 blocked shots in 48 games for the New Jersey Devils in 2018-19.

He also has five takeaways, 13 hits and a 60 percent faceoff win percentage in the playoffs for the Bruins, all while having an average of 13:23 minutes of ice time per game which indicates that the hired gun doesn’t need a big sample size in which to get the job done and produce the goods.

Put simply, Johansson is at the peak of his powers right now and is flashing tantalising signs of fulfilling the potential that made him such a hot commodity when he was drafted 24th overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Cons

First and foremost, injuries have been a problem throughout Johansson’s NHL career and he’s been plagued by some pretty serious ones.

A concussion suffered in 2018 – ironically at the hands of now team mate Brad Marchand – was added to the lengthy list of previous head injuries.

Adding insult to injury, quite literally, was a lung contusion sustained against the Hurricanes in March, 2019 shortly after being traded to the Bruins which kept him off the ice for a period of time.

Johansson’s injury history will be the biggest concern at the top of the list for any General Manager willing to part with a lump of cash for the left-wing in free agency.

Another factor to consider for the Golden Knights will be whether or not they want to block Nikita Gusev’s progress by bringing in Johansson.

Gusev is projected to take a roster spot on the third line out of training camp and he’s certainly showing why he deserves to be in the lineup on opening night after lightning it up for Team Russia at the IIHF World Championships with two goals and six assists for eight points in four games.

The young stud certainly deserves a crack at making the roster and showing what he’s made of in the NHL, but any potential move for Johansson would in turn limit Gusev’s chances considerably, which has to be taken into consideration.

Finally, and this is perhaps the most critical point to consider, Johansson’s value is rising by the day and it will only continue to do so the longer he rides the hot hand in the postseason for Boston.

As a result, expect the forward to command in the region of $5-6.5 million in yearly salary, which would require a lot of manoeuvring for the Vegas Golden Knights who already have a lot of roster decisions to make and not a lot of room under the salary cap in which to make them.

Conclusion

Marcus Johansson has been a fairly consistent points scorer throughout his career and his 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 48 regular season games for the Devils this year prior to his trade is a good marker when it comes to what he could produce as a bottom six forward over the span of a whole year.

He’s thriving on the biggest stage right now and there could be more big moments ahead as he looks to add a Stanley Cup to his resume.

At 28-years-old Johansson still has a few years of good hockey left in him which means that he would be a cornerstone piece for the Golden Knights during their years as a contender.

The asking price would be a potential stumbling block and the Knights do have some talented prospects waiting in the wings, but to win championships you need secondary scoring and big time moments from big time players lower down the lineup. Johansson fits that bill.

If the Vegas Golden Knights can get themselves in the market for Johansson and create enough cap room in order to be able to get a deal done, then they should put their foot on the gas and go for it because they would be getting a player who’d add another dimension to this already multi-talented Stanley Cup contender.