Clinging to the past can often be the kryptonite of stagnating hockey teams. Teams that are able to progress from rebuilding to contending are very particular about the caliber of player who is given the privilege of pulling on an NHL uniform.
There’s no time for has-beens or dead weight. Teams that make personnel decisions based on nostalgia are the ones that get left in the dust.
When the Rangers handed veteran defenseman Jack Johnson a one-year, $1.15 million contract, it wasn’t a backbreaking figure – but it has the potential to hinder the rebuild’s ultimate goal of identifying and developing promising youths into NHL mainstays.
The nature of an abbreviated 56-game season means less opportunities for teams to experiment. In a best-case scenario, Johnson is a stopgap solution who takes away ice time that could be used to identify a long-term fit.
Johnson is wearing a Rangers uniform because of his past links to assistant coach Jacques Martin, team president John Davidson, and head coach David Quinn. Martin was hired to replace Lindy Ruff as a defensive and penalty kill specialist, and having coached Johnson for two seasons in Pittsburgh, he advocated for the signing of Johnson.
Davidson, who was president of the Columbus Blue Jackets during Johnson’s spell in Ohio’s capital, spoke positively of Johnson’s potential impact as a Blueshirt.
Remember, this is a 34-year-old version of Johnson – a defenseman who by every measure struggled mightily in Pittsburgh, and was bought out of the final three years of his contract. Any Penguins fan, Pittsburgh beat writer, or analytics expert could have foreseen the possibility of Johnson continuing to be a declining asset.
Through his first three games as a Ranger, Johnson has played exactly as advertised: a poor-skating, sloppy-passing, feeble-defending nightmare. Johnson was exploited and outmuscled by Jack Hughes throughout Tuesday’s 4-3 defeat to the rival New Jersey Devils. His point shots sailed wide, like a Scott Norwood Super Bowl field goal.
Layers of the Rangers’ organization, including Davidson, Martin, and Quinn, have sung Johnson’s praises. Quinn served as a developmental coach during a teenaged Johnson’s training with the U.S. National Team Development Program. During January’s training camp, Quinn described the statistical evidence of Johnson’s diminishing returns as “a bad rap.”
Perhaps, Johnson possesses all the best work habits and is the definition of a coach’s dream. Even if he’s a shining example of dedication for youngsters to follow, though, he has to justify his inclusion in the lineup with on-ice value. If he’s going to be a net negative on a nightly basis, it’s Quinn’s job to pull him out of the fire.
Unless Johnson’s performances suddenly improve for the better, the Rangers cannot continue giving ice time to a player who solves neither a short-term nor long-term need.
Follow Sean Hartnett on Twitter: @HartnettHockey
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