Andreas Johnson
Age: 24
Role: First Line Left Winger
Last Season: 20 goals, 23 points, one crazy hattrick.
Johnson’s 2.49 points per 60 is an elite total. If he can maintain it, then oh-my-god are the Toronto Maple Leafs a deep team. If Johnson is a legitimate 2.25+ p/60 player, then the Leafs have a line of Johnson-Matthews-Nylander that is comparable to the Bruins super-line of Pastrnak-Bergeron-Marchand.
Any talk of putting anyone other than Johnson on Matthews’ left wing is easily the craziest thing anyone has said all summer.
Expectations: If he plays all season on the top line and gets power play points, I think we should be happy with 25 goals, 50 points. That might be a lot to expect, however. It’s hard to say with Johnsson only having played 82 games and never being a top prospect. He’s already exceeded all expectations.
What He Needs to Meet Expectations: Ice Time. I think he’s the real deal.