Toronto Maple Leafs Top Prospects List Part One

#10 Andreas Johnsson

Andreas Johnsson was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the seventh round, 202nd overall, in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Since being selected, he played three professional seasons in the Swedish league, and one in the AHL.  He is currently 22 years-old, and is a left-shooting left-winger.

The buzz around Johnsson started the year after he got drafted, with some hoping the Leafs had found a late round steal, a la Henrick Zetterberg.  That has since proven to be wishful thinking, but the slightly undersized Johnsson is still a decent prospect.

The reason for the buzz was that, as an 18 year old, he was playing against men in a professional league and acquitting himself well.  For a while he was a steady climber on lists like this.

But last year Johnsson played in the AHL, and while he wasn’t bad, a 22 year-old who isn’t scoring around a ppg – if his role is offensive, as Johnsson’s is – does not excite all that much.  It doesn’t mean he won’t be good, but if he was a star in the making, it’s highly likely he’d be scoring more.

Johnsson was second on the Marlies last year in goals with 20, and third on the team with 47 points.  He played in 75 games, but several players who do  not really project as stars (Seth Griffith, Brandon Leipsic, and Kirby Rychel) all out-scored him.  Though he did impressively lead the team in goals during their short playoff run.

Johnnson may have a future as an NHL player, but I don’t think it’s going to be with the Leafs.  Now, surprises happen all the time, so I can’t say for sure, but with the team’s massive depth at wing, it doesn’t look good for Johnsson.

As far as scoring line wingers go, Johnsson’s currently behind Rychel and Kapanen, and that’s without listing the NHL regulars like Marleau, JVR, Brown, Nylander, Marner, Hyman and Komarov.  If he was 19 it would be a different story.  Given his age  Johnsson is going to have to make the jump to the NHL soon, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to surpass enough people on the depth chart to get that chance in Toronto.

He is entering the last year of his Entry Level Contract, and the Leafs are going to have to decide if he is worth taking up one of their 50 contract spots when he’s already 22 and doesn’t appear to have a chance to make their roster.

This is really more of a reflection of the Leafs current strength and depth, rather than an indictment of Johnsson’s game.  Certainly he has NHL talent and should be able to carve himself out a depth role in the NHL – especially if teams continue to experiment with skilled players down in the line-up rather than the traditional checkers.

At the same time, if he can be retained and kept as a possible injury replacement or if the team sees him as a bit of late-bloomer, he still has enough upside to include him in this list.