Toronto Maple Leafs: Andreas Johnsson Excelling with Growing Role

The Toronto Maple Leafs are fortunate to have one of the deepest offensive units in the entire NHL.

The offensive firepower that the Toronto Maple Leafs can roll out each and every night is what most teams would kill to have and the results show why.

It isn’t just the main guys that are playing a part in the Leafs deadly attack, it’s the impressive secondary scoring options are also doing their part in providing a scoring threat. Andreas Johnsson is one of those players and has quickly climbed the depth charts towards becoming one of the team’s better wingers.

In today’s post, we will analyze Johnsson’s rookie season and see how he has fared so far.

Recovered from a slow start

Johnsson had a slow start to the 2018-19 season, including healthy scratched multiple times in the early weeks. In recent weeks, on the other hand, he has been quite the revelation for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In 36 games played, Johnsson currently has 9 goals, 10 assists, and 19 points at a rate of 0.53 PPG. A majority of his points have come in nearly 20 games and if he maintained that pace over a full season, he would have a 30 goal, 70 point campaign.

His recent spike in production makes sense considering that he began the season on the 4th line with Connor Brown and Par Lindholm. Due to a combination of improved luck and better opportunities, he has worked his way up the lineup in no time. He’s currently playing on a line with Auston Matthews and William Nylander with the underlying stats suggesting the combination has worked out well.

His good fortunes have been highlighted by his shooting percentage, which currently sits at 15.3% on 59 shots. Of those total attempts, he has a Shot Through % of 60.8, meaning he is a smart shooter and knows when to fire the puck.

While Johnsson did have a slow start to the season, the reigning  AHL Playoffs MVP is playing as he did during the Marlies 2018 Calder Cup run. In other words, good luck to the rest of the NHL in containing him.

Impressive underlying stats

It’s not simply Johnsson’s basic stats that are great, going deeper into the numbers highlight his impressive stats throughout the campaign.

At even strength, he has 53.00 CF%, a 67.50 GF%, a 68.18 HDGF%, and a 13.11% on-ice SH%. When compared to the rest of the Leafs roster, he is ranked 6th, 1st, 2nd, and 8th in each category respectively. Meaning he has quickly established himself as one of Toronto’s key forwards.

In addition, Johnsson also has the Leafs 8th highest Game Score (22), the 6th best relative expected Goals % (3.1) per MoneyPuck, and 7th highest GAR (4.90). He even stacks up fairly well to teammate Kasperi Kapanen, who spent the early part of the season with Matthews and enjoyed success on his wing.

There are, however, some aspects of Johnsson’s stats that are less impressive that need to be mentioned.

He has a 49.16 SF%, a 48.94 SCF%, a 49.25 HDCF%, and a turnover ratio of 2, all at even strength. These stats have him ranked 11th, 16th, 18th, and 9th on the Leafs respectively. While all of the stats are overall just below average, it still means his team gets slightly out-chanced and outshot whenever he’s on.

Despite the minor drawbacks, they don’t take away from his overall value to the Leafs. He has demonstrated his ability to track down loose pucks, forcing turnovers, handling the puck efficiently. He has also shown to be a fast skater which has allowed him to wreak havoc on the opposition many times.

Conclusion

Johnsson has provided a ton of value to the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. Despite beginning the season as a regular healthy scratch, he has worked his way up the lineup due to his strong play.

His production in recent weeks has been impressive, which would have him on pace to be a top-line forward. The strong underlying stats show that he isn’t just getting lucky, and that he has made a positive impact on the team.

Considering he is only on a one-year contract that pays him just under $800K, he is fighting to not only earn a bigger payday but also an increased role on the team. If his recent play should continue, he should have little trouble achieving both of these come the offseason.

He is quickly establishing himself as one of the Toronto Maple Leafs most important forward.

Thanks for reading!

All stats unless otherwise noted are from Natural Stat Trick and Hockey-Reference.