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2016-17 Rink Wrap: Marcus Johansson

Japers’ Rink Player Card (click for a hi-res version; data via NHL.comCorsica.hockey and Cap Friendly):

Johansson’s Season, Game-by-Game (via HockeyViz, explained here):

Johansson and His Linemates (chart by @muneebalamcu):

Johansson’s 5v5 Teammates and Competition (via HockeyViz, explained here):

Johansson’s 5v5 Usage (chart by @muneebalamcu):

Johansson’s With-or-Without You (via HockeyViz, explained here):

Johansson’s Rolling Shot-Attempt (Corsi) -For Percentage (chart by @muneebalamcu):

Johansson’s Seven Seasons (via Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com):

Johansson’s Goals Against Replacement (GAR) Components (chart by @ChartingHockey, data by @DTMAboutHeart, explained here, Tableau here):

Johansson’s HERO Chart (via Own The Puck):

Key Stat: Johansson accumulated 58 points this season (24 goals, 34 assists), which was not only good enough for the fourth-highest total on the team but also established a new career high.

Interesting Stat: Only Alex Ovechkin has more game-winning goals than Marcus Johansson over the last two seasons for the Caps, and the 12 game-winners earned by Johansson since the start of 2015-16 put him in the top 20 among all NHLers in that category.

The Good: Over the course of his career, Johansson has been almost surprisingly consistent, averaging about 45 points a season and failing to crack 40 points only twice in seven years – his rookie season (27 points) and the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign (22). This year, however, he seemed to take a step forward in his production, setting new career highs in goals (24, his second 20+ goal season) and points. He also continued to be insanely disciplined; the fact that he posted his third-highest PIM total of his career and that total was a whopping 10 minutes… yeah.

Johansson spent the majority of the season making up a third of the team’s successful second line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Justin Williams. As part of that trio, Johansson scored 11 of his career-high 19 even-strength goals, and it was a big part of his overall CF% rate of 53.2% at five on five. And while his shooting percentage was a somewhat inflated 18.6%, Johansson continued to perfect his ability to get to the front of the net to score his goals. Here’s a look at where all of his goals came from this year:

Johansson’s net-front presence paid huge dividends in the playoffs, when he used it to scored the series-clinching overtime winner against the Leafs – one of two goals and eight points he picked up during the team’s 13-game postseason run.

The Bad: That shooting percentage mentioned above was, as noted, fairly inflated; among the Caps, only T.J. Oshie had a higher shooting percentage than Johansson, which would suggest that his 24-goal campaign is perhaps not sustainable. In fact, he saw a dip in all of his shot-based metrics, posting his lowest iSF/60, iCF/60 and iFF/60 at even strength in three seasons.

So it’s not all that surprising that his numbers were also bolstered by abnormally high power-play totals – his 19 points with the extra man were the second-highest of his career.

With all of that, and despite all of his scoring success in the regular season, Johansson struggled to put up points in the playoffs; that may sound strange to say considering he set a career high with eight points (and tied a career high in goals with two), but he was limited to just three assists through the first five games of the Toronto series, scored both his goals in an admittedly key time in Game 6, and had just three assists in the whole series against the Penguins – including none in Game 6 or (obviously) 7.

In a series in which the Caps were supposed to have the edge on forward depth, they needed more from Johansson and friends.

The GIF/Video:

The Vote: Rate Johansson below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

The Discussion: Do you prefer Johansson on a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov, or as part of a Tre Kronor line with Nicklas Backstrom and Andre Burakovsky? Is Johansson’s point production sustainable despite an inflated shooting percentage? What would it take for you to give him a “10” next year?

Other Johansson Season ReviewsPeerless

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