Penguins Place Jack Johnson on Waivers

Having exhausted all attempts to trade him, the Penguins placed problematic defenseman Jack Johnson on waivers today for the purpose of buying out the remaining three years of his contract (worth $9.75 million) should he pass through unclaimed.

So ends the saga of one of the most maligned players in franchise history. Almost from the moment the former No. 3 overall pick inked a five-year deal with the Pens on July 1, 2018, he was excoriated by the media and especially local bloggers, who were almost uniformly critical of the signing.

Sadly, their low opinion of Johnson’s abilities would prove to be well-founded.

Truth be told, my heart goes out to Johnson. Whatever his shortcomings on the ice, a lack of effort or an unwillingness to get his nose dirty weren’t among them. During his two-season stay in the ‘Burgh, JJ dished out 416 hits and blocked 244 shots, far and away the most of any black-and-gold skater in both categories during that span.

The 227-pounder was a lone beacon of physicality on a decidedly unphysical defense.

Johnson was decent on the penalty-kill, where his mobility issues were masked to an extent. And he had stretches where he was at least reasonably effective while skating next to kids Marcus Pettersson and John Marino.

By all accounts, he was a terrific teammate and a great guy in the locker room.

Unfortunately, his positive attributes couldn’t conceal a struggle to keep pace in today’s puck-possession game, much like Rob Scuderi before him. Once upon a time a fairly accomplished offensive defenseman, that part of Johnson’s game had long since dried up by the time he arrived in the Steel City (four goals and 24 points over a two-season span).

His Corsi with the Pens was an uninspired 46.2 and his 5-vs-5 shot attempts count was ghastly, a minus-318 over the two seasons (including a mind-blowing minus-198 in 2018-19). His advanced metrics were uniformly off-the-charts crappy.

In other words…a lot more bad things happened when Johnson was on the ice than good, especially at even strength.

If the Pens proceed with the buyout…almost a sure bet given that JJ is likely to pass through waivers unclaimed…they’ll save $2 million this season on his cap hit of $3.25 million. Or enough to provide GM Jim Rutherford with the wiggle room to extend qualifying offers to RFA forwards Pontus Aberg, Anthony Angello, Sam Lafferty, Sam Miletic and goaltender Matt Murray.

Murray’s offer is a formality. He’s expected to be traded in the near future.

Speaking of the future, I don’t know what Johnson’s holds, but I wish him well. He handled an extremely toxic situation with grace, dignity and class.

Perhaps he’ll hook on with a rebuilding team like Detroit and serve as a mentor and veteran presence for some up-and-coming kids. Wherever he winds up, I hope he’ll meet with more success…and be treated better than he was here.

He’s certainly deserving.