Sometimes you just have to laugh and accept things for what they are. That’s sort of what Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson did in his introductory interview following the trade from the Philadelphia Flyers. Colorado sent Givanni Smith to Philly in return.
Johnson took the high road when asked about his upcoming role with the team that he has 13 years of experience with in the past.
The first part of his response was that he’s willing to play however many minutes the team asks him to, suggesting 5-10 minutes a night. That is typically around the same number of minutes those lower-pairing defensemen play. At 36-years-old, it makes sense for Johnson to come back to that role with the team he is most familiar with. Though I’m not sure if he had a choice, ending his career with the Colorado Avalanche is the perfect choice.
As a third-pairing defenseman, you’re asked to keep the puck out of your opponent’s position to score. The top pairing is obviously your best players—in the case of the Avalanche, Cale Makar and Devon Toews—with Sam Girard in the mix for either second or third pairing, though he’s currently listed as the third-pair left defenseman alongside Sam Malinski.
Oftentimes, the last pairing gets moved around, with one being a healthy scratch due to the league’s game day roster limit in place. It’s certainly possible that we see the same thing happen with Johnson. It’s a position that you can afford to sit players who fans know best.
In Johnson’s most recent season with the Avalanche, the Stanley Cup-winning season, he played in 77 regular season games and put up eight goals and 17 assists while averaging 17:17 of ice time throughout the year. He also played in a career-high 20 playoff games for the team that year, and an average time on ice of 17:01, though that was his lowest average ice time in the playoffs of his career so far.
He’ll get a chance to fight for ice time alongside also-newly-acquired Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Lindgren. Lindgren has played in three games for the Avalanche so far, recording an assist while averaging 20:01 minutes of ice time.
The Colorado Avalanche did not shy away from making moves at the 2024-25 NHL trade deadline this year. General Manager Chris MacFarland was a busy man and he’ll continue to look at potential upgrades when opportunity present themselves later down the road. For now, let’s admire the roster that he put together despite some tough situations.
The Colorado Avalanche take on the Chicago Blackhawks Monday
When the Avalanche beat the Blackhawks, it always feels like they took complete control in the game. When they lose to Chicago, it always seems like a close game. The Avalanche have dropped their last two games against Chicago by a combined score of 8-3.
Personally, based off of how the Avalanche played since acquiring Martin Necas, and how the team’s goaltending has been lately, I have a feeling that Monday night’s game won’t be much of an issue for Colorado.
The Avs are in third place in the Central Division with 78 points. Minnesota is right behind them with 76 points, while the Edmonton Oilers also have 78 points to round out the teams Colorado is fighting against for a postseason spot. With 18 games remaining in the regular season, we’re in for a fun ride.