Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – Ryan Johnson had a very good start to his professional career from the blue line. It was expected that Johnson would spend his rookie season with the Rochester Americans, and that is where he started.
Then on Nov. 4, the young defenseman was called up to the Buffalo Sabres after an injury to Mattias Samuelsson. He played his first NHL game that night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs and played so well, general manager Kevyn Adams had to keep him in Buffalo.
Johnson had actually impressed in his first NHL training camp, and the 22-year-old just kept it up in Rochester. Johnson had only played nine games with the Amerks, but it was enough to show that the 31st overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft deserved an opportunity.
Johnson recently spoke after the Amerks were eliminated in the Calder Cup Playoffs by the Syracuse Crunch. He felt his first professional season of hockey was great for him.
"I’ve just had so much fun being both in the NHL, and in the AHL playing playoff hockey," said Johnson during his end-of-season press conference. "It was meeting so many guys, and playing under different coaches is a great experience."
Johnson spent four years playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, so he’s used to a college season. In his senior year, he played 40 games, which included a run to the NCAA Championship Game.
This year, Johnson played 41 games for the Sabres, and a total of 32 games for the Amerks, including playoffs. That’s 73 games overall, which may have resulted in the 22-year-old looking worn down, especially mentally.
In the playoffs, Johnson really looked like he was laboring, and says it’s a harder game at that time of year.
"It definitely seemed like it was ramping up," he said. "There were games that seemed like payoff games where we had to battle in tight games and they were something you had to work for."
Johnson actually seemed to start losing his edge in Buffalo after a bit, and was sent back to Rochester on March 8.
In Buffalo, Johnson had seven assists and averaged just under 14 minutes of ice-time per game. You could tell it wasn’t going as well for him.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Johnson is going to be a solid NHL defenseman. I just think playing a pro schedule for the first time wore him down. So what were some of the challenges he learned along the way?
"Showing up at the rink and being consistent with it was definitely a challenge. It’s managing the time, manage the load, and even the mental side was very challenging at times," Johnson admitted. "You’re playing in new cities and you’re getting moved from team-to-team as well, and at the end of the day, it was such good growth too, and really develop my character through those challenging times, because not every game is perfect."
You could tell in training camp that Johnson recognized early he wasn’t at all out of place.
'I had a lot of parts of my game where I developed a confidence that I can play at this level. Just seeing the potential I have, and even learning about my routine and what works best for me, and how much time I should be investing on and off the ice," Johnson noted.
"My character on the ice even grew, learning to play, encouraging teammates."
Now that Johnson has the experience to look back on, he can attack the summer knowing what it was like, and what it’s going to take to maintain a spot at the NHL level.
"I was thinking during the year, like, 'There’s so much I can work on. There’s so much I see in my game that has potential and needs improvement.' I was thinking that it’s not that I can’t do this in a season, but it’s like when I get home I want to shoot pucks or work on mobility or take care of my body, get stronger. Just a lot of things," Johnson said.
Meanwhile, Johnson watches NHL players and thinks about how they play so consistently.
Johnson is a very impressive young player. When you ask him a question, he gives you a very good, well thought out answer.
If there are no injuries, I don’t see Johnson starting the season in Buffalo, because there’s no point making him the No. 7 defenseman waiting for a chance to play. He could be in Rochester playing 20 minutes per-game, which would make him ready should there be an injury.
This is where I see the Sabres' blue line, as of now:
Byram – Dahlin
Power – Jokiharju
Samuelsson – Clifton
Bryson
Depending on what goes on in training camp, Byram and Power are interchangeable.
