Jan 9, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Practice pucks at center ice before the Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
No.18 – Andreas Johnson
By: Torrin Batchelor
Coming in at a lowly 18th overall on our list, the slippery Swede stolen 202nd overall in the 7th round of the 2013 NHL entry draft will fly up the rankings a lot sooner than later.
More from Editorials
- Ryan Reaves Will Have Zero Impact on Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Maple Leafs: A Psychic Predicts Matthews Goal Total in 2023-24
- Toronto Maple Leafs New Assistant Coaches Could Provide Spark
- Assessing the Toronto Maple Leafs Leadership in 2023-24
- Toronto Maple Leafs: The Team to Look Out For in the West
Not blessed with “typical” NHL size – he is only listed as 5ft10 and 176lbs – Andreas Johnson has borderline elite talent and if he wasn’t staying another season in the SHL would be a lot higher up this list. Johnson began his whirlwind season by being diagnosed with Asthma, which had many doubting his future as an NHL player, this was dragged down further by coming out of the summer with no ELC from the Leafs.
However, Johnson quickly erased any fears as he skipped Leafs training camp to play in the European Champions Hockey League tournament, going on a torrential 11 goals and 25 points in only 12 games, the hockey world took notice again. Johnson continued his goal scoring exploits with 22 goals and 35 points (including leading the entire SHL in-game winning goals with 9).
Elite skating and a seemingly unnatural ability to find open ice in the offensive zone combined with a heavy, heavy one timer lead to Johnson being a VERY potent offensive weapon. There are some real fears about his size and ability to adjust to the smaller North American ice surface with more aggressive fore-checkers and larger defenders, but Johnson has all the tools, and more importantly the will power to overcome all obstacles.
The fact that Johnson went outside of the Leafs Top20 by some of our writers blows my mind, but does speak to how much the Leafs prospect quality and depth has vastly improved in the past calendar year. I placed a little more weight on immediate, or the potential for immediate contributions to the NHL team and Johnson’s staying in the SHL for another season dropped him down my rankings a bit.
Getting Johnson locked up to an ELC by the Leafs this summer also eliminates the risk that he would stay in the SHL long-term and gives the Leafs another free year of development before he crosses the pond next season and absolutely dominates the AHL jumping into the same discussion as the Connor Brown’s and Kasperi Kapanen’s of the Leafs pipeline.
Johnson has only gotten better every year, and does not seem to be stopping as he has already registered 3 assists in his first Champions league game this summer. Keep an eye on this player Leafs Nation, he will be a household name a lot sooner than later.
Next: Number 17