CBJ of the Day: Jack Johnson

By William Espy

In the 2005 entry draft, all the hype was about the “Crosby Lottery” however there was a lot of high caliber talent in this draft. Bobby Ryan, Benoit Pouliot, and Carey Price just to name a few. The Blue Jackets draft however did not go as planned. They selected 6th overall and selected Gilbert Brule while names like Anze Kopitar, Tuukka Rask and TJ Oshie were on the board. At the time it seemed like a good idea, however in hindsight it was another draft disappointment for the Blue Jackets. (Now) Former Blue Jacket and current UFA Jack Skille was taken seventh overall by the Chicago Blackhawks. However I have left one player out of the discussion to this point. That player would be none other than a defenseman selected third overall by the Carolina Hurricanes. His name? None other than Jack Johnson.

Jack Johnson would be traded on October 1, 2006 to the LA Kings along with Oleg Tvordovsky in exchange for Eric Belanger and Tim Gleason. Johnson would remain with the Kings until an infamous trade in 2012. The Blue Jackets traded disgruntled forward Jeff Carter to the Kings in exchange for a first round pick and Johnson.

While Johnson never turned into a Norris candidate like he was probably expected to when he was drafted, he has been a top blue liner for the Blue Jackets since he was acquired. Who can forget the “Controlled Chaos” pairing of Johnson and James Wisniewski? In the 2014-2015 season, Johnson led Jackets defenseman in time on ice per game averaging 24:09. Second was Johnson’s partner for most of the season David Savard with 22:56.

STATUS: AVALIABLE FOR THE RIGHT PRICE

This is a bit of a tough one, the “right price” that the Blue Jackets would need to move Johnson would likely be very high. Johnson is unlikely to be involved in any trade talks, unless it is a trade that would involve the Jackets flipping him for a better defenseman. However, that is also unlikely as the Jackets would likely try to flip other assets to get a top pairing caliber defenseman to play alongside of Johnson. The Jackets have shown interest in doing so, inquiring about Kevin Shattenkirk, however it is highly unlikely that Johnson goes anywhere. On top of that, David Savard will likely be his defensive partner until around the trade deadline in which case Savard would move down a pairing.