The Colorado Avalanche re-acquired veteran defenseman Erik Johnson at the NHL’s recent trade deadline. But in 2007, Johnson was the top prospect in the hockey world — and in this 2007 Future Watch cover story, writer Ken Campbell profiled Johnson as Johnson considered whether to go pro for the St. Louis Blues or to stay in the NCAA:
By Ken Campbell
For Erik Johnson, the worst times are immediately after the games, those hours when he’s peeling off his sweaty equipment, almost always basking in the glow of victory, perhaps making plans to have a couple of Diet Cokes with his teammates and head off to a campus party on a Saturday night.
All Johnson ever wanted to do when he was a kid was play at the ‘U’, that’s the University of Minnesota for those of you unfamiliar with The Land of 10,000 Lakes. And that’s what he’s doing now. He loves every minute of it, but as each day of his freshman season passes, he feels himself being pulled further and further away.
And it appears to be doing quite a number on a young man who three years ago was playing hockey at a prep school called Academy of Holy Angels. Does that sound like the most pristine place in the world or what?
But now he’s the No. 1 prospect outside the NHL, something that was established last June when the St. Louis Blues chose him first overall in the draft and confirmed recently when a panel of 22 NHL scouts ordained him the best player not playing in the NHL at the moment.
That could change and probably will next season, but that doesn’t mean it’s not giving Johnson a world of anxiety.
“To tell you the truth, I keep going back and forth on that one,” said Johnson, a defenseman for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers who turns 19 March 21. “Sometimes I’m thinking, ‘St. Louis, St. Louis,’ then I play a game at Mariucci (UM’s home rink) and go out with my buddies and it gets really difficult. This decision is a lot tougher than you might think.”
That Johnson is eminently ready to play imminently in the NHL is not in dispute. Anyone who has seen him play this season, particularly since the World Junior Championship, knows that Johnson could almost certainly make the adjustment to the NHL next season. Of course it helps when you’re 6-foot-4, 222 pounds, have a high panic threshold and can shoot the puck like a cannon.
“What happens if I go back to school and I’m walking all over college hockey?” Johnson said. “What would that do for my development?
Complicating matters a little is that the 2007 Frozen Four, which is the NCAA’s championship tournament, just happens to be slated for the Scottrade Center, where the Blues are currently having trouble drawing 10,000 fans a game.
So, the question is, if Johnson’s Gophers make it to the Frozen Four, how much is he going to pack?
Much of the decision could be made for him. If he plays in the Frozen Four, he won’t play for the Blues because their season ends the same day the tournament does. The Blues American League affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, have four games remaining and will almost certainly be in a life-and-death battle to make the playoffs.
For his part, Johnson maintains he’s focused on making a decision for next season and doesn’t see himself leaving school before this academic year is finished. But if the Gophers are knocked out early, and even if they’re not, the Blues may still come calling.
“We will explore all options, there is no question about that,” said Blues GM John Davidson.
Despite their struggles, the Blues have a capable blueline that will be enhanced if they manage to sign Eric Brewer to a long-term deal. That would certainly take the pressure off having to rush Johnson into the NHL. And as good as Johnson will be someday, it’s not as though 19-year-old defensemen sell tickets the way Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin do.
That’s the determination Davidson and Johnson made over the summer when they held a conference call about his immediate future.
“We wanted him to go and have a life,” Davidson said. “We told him, ‘Go play hockey and have fun. Go to college, chase girls and all that stuff.’”
Davidson said many in the hockey world scratched their heads when the Blues signed Jay McKee to such a lucrative contract, but part of the thinking behind that would be that McKee would mentor Johnson in Johnson’s rookie season in the NHL.
“When he does ultimately come here, he won’t be expected to play 30 minutes a night and he won’t get roasted as a rookie,” Davidson said.
To be sure, there was a learning curve for Johnson in college hockey this season. Gophers coach Don Lucia said Johnson initially put far too much pressure on himself to live up to his billing as the No. 1 pick, incidentally the first No. 1 overall pick in history to ever play college hockey after being selected.
It was something that Johnson also realized early in the world junior tournament.
“It was after the first game against Germany,” he said. “After that game, I realized I was doing a lot of things individually and I was trying to do a little too much on my own. I think after that game, my game just took off and I played well the rest of the tournament.”
Johnson finished the tournament tied for the scoring lead with four goals and 10 points and was named the top defenseman in the tournament. That followed a strong performance in the 2006 tournament in Vancouver, when Johnson was paired with No. 4 overall prospect Jack Johnson (no relation) and used the tournament to vault him to the No. 1 pick.
Scouts have noticed the poise level in Erik Johnson, compared to the hell-bent-for-leather approach that Jack Johnson takes in the game.
“I think Erik Johnson has a little more maturity in his game than Jack does right now, but that’s not to say Jack won’t get that,” said Toronto Maple Leafs scout Craig Button. “(Erik) doesn’t chase the game or chase the play. Wanting to have an impact is a great quality to have, but you’ve got to recognize when it’s there.”
Everyone, Johnson’s coach included, acknowledges that if Johnson does return to Minnesota next season, it will be his last. Former Gopher defensemen Keith Ballard and Paul Martin resisted the urge to go pro and played three years and Jordan Leopold played all four, but that is simply not going to be the plan for Johnson.
In early February, Johnson was taking advantage of a Gopher bye week in which there were no practices to re-energize for the final push of the season. When it was suggested to him that the extra time would allow him to concentrate on school, he said, “Oh yeah, that too.”
Lest you get the idea Johnson is a prima donna who knows he’s destined for stardom, that’s hardly the case.
“It’s nice to have a kid like him who is humble and doesn’t think the universe revolves around him,” Lucia said. “If you came into our room, you’d never know he was a first pick. You’d think he was a free agent trying to get picked by somebody.”
Twenty-two NHL scouts cast a ballot for top NHL-affiliated prospect.
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