MN Wild Sign NHL Veteran and One-Time Shattuck St. Mary’s Rental to Pro Tryout

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New Minnesota Wild defenseman, Jack Johnson - Nashville Predators at Colorado Avalanche
Credit: Andrew Wevers-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Wild have had a relatively quiet offseason, especially given this was supposed to be the summer of major movement for president of hockey operations, Bill Guerin. But instead of spending the extra salary cap space left in the absence of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s contract buyouts, the Wild are sitting on it.

Not only have they chosen not to bring in any recognizable talent to supplement their 2024 playoff roster, outside of a flyer trade for Vladimir Tarasenko, but Guerin is yet to ink Kirill Kaprizov to his long-awaited contract extension or decide whether to trade or sign Marco Rossi to another deal.

Mostly, Minnesota has stuck to making moves that grab less headlines. First, they extending Marcus Johansson (with a no-trade clause). Then, Guerin dumped Freddy Gaudreau’s salary on the Seattle Kraken, in exchange for a 4th round pick.

The Wild then followed up those moves by swapping out former 1st round center Brendan Gaunce for Columbus wing, Cameron Butler, before bringing back center Nico Sturm to win some faceoffs. But one of the most important updates so far this offseason has come on the injury front.

Minnesota Wild sign Shattuck St. Mary’s Jack Johnson to Professional Tryout

Back in late-June we found out that longtime top-four MN Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin had offseason lower-body surgery that is expected to keep him out off the active roster through training camp and into the start of the 2025-26 regular season.

Without Brodin, Minnesota’s depth on the blue line suddenly looks thin, especially when it comes to defensemen with significant NHL experience. Thus, Guerin and the front office made a move Monday to sign former Shattuck St. Mary’s standout and grizzled 19-year NHL veteran, Jack Johnson to a “Professional Tryout Opportunity” (PTO) contract.

Related: MN Wild Teasing Massive Contract News on Local Sidewalks…?

Johnson, 38, is from Indianapolis, Indiana. He transferred to Shattuck St. Mary’s for his sophomore season of high school, back in 2002-2003, where he scored 15 goals from the blue line, to go with 27 assists.

I’d imagine many of those assists (and probably a couple of goals at least) probably happened in part thanks to a young Sydney Crosby, who played with Johnson at the famed U18 hockey factory, which sits in the midsize town of Faribault, MN (24,000 people).

When he left Shattuck St. Mary’s, following one successful season, Johnson went on to play two junior seasons with USA Hockey. There, he played 48 total games, potting 15 goals and assisting on 27 more.

Johnson trying out for 20th NHL season

After his final year with Team USA, Johnson — who was committed to Michigan — and was selected 3rd overall by Carolina in the 2005 NHL Draft. Two stellar years as a Wolverine later, and Jack Johnson made the NHL leap.

In 2006-2007, at just 20-years-old, he made his NHL debut with the LA Kings, who had traded for him prior to the start of that season. And 1,200 National Hockey League games later, the rest is history.

Related: MN Wild TV Broadcast Ranked Embarrassingly Low

Prior to signing with the Minnesota Wild, Johnson has racked up over 1,200 games of NHL experience with six different teams, including a Stanley Cup victory in 2021-2022 with the Colorado Avalanche. He’s scored 77 goals from the blue line and assisted on 265 more.

For the first decade of his career, Johnson averaged over 23 minutes of TOI. Last year, in 41 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the aging veteran averaged just 12:52 of ice time (0 goals, 6 assists).

Nonetheless, Michael Russo (The Athletic) makes it clear that Guerin does not make this move if Johnson didn’t have a legitimate chance of making the roster.

Guerin, who signed a PTO with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 before being released and retiring two months later, typically doesn’t believe in PTOs unless there’s a clear shot for a veteran to make the team. He doesn’t want to lead them astray if there’s little chance.

But with Brodin hurt, Zeev Buium only 19 and fellow first-round pick Carson Lambos, 22, yet to make his NHL debut, Johnson will provide some depth on the left side of the blue line if needed by the end of camp.

Michael Russo – The Athletic
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