CRANBERRY, Pa. -- It certainly didn't hurt to have an old friend nearby, but a reunion with Sidney Crosby is not all that swayed Jack Johnson's decision to come to Pittsburgh.
That his friend is also the best hockey player in the world and provides the best chance to win the Stanley Cup (the two are not mutually exclusive), well, that means a little more.
Johnson officially signed his five-year, $16.25 million contract with the Penguins on Sunday -- terms that were first reported earlier in the week by DKPittsburghSports.com -- this moments after the start of the NHL's free agent signing period. The contract will keep Johnson in Pittsburgh through the 2021-22 season.
"I’ve really wanted to be a part of a winning culture in a place where the expectation to win is as high as it can be, and to win," Johnson said Sunday after playing the last seven seasons in Columbus. "I don’t think I could have asked for a better opportunity than here.
"With Sidney, he actually talked to me a while back, kind of a short conversation about it. He said he’d like to give me a sales job on coming. I said I'd save him some time, I don’t need much of a sales job on me. He’s definitely an important part of it. He’s the one who drives the boat around here. I know him well enough to know he's the kind of guy that wants five Cups and the moment he gets the fifth he's going to want the sixth."
Johnson's deal comes with an average annual value of $3.2 million which is somewhat below market value for a defenseman of Johnson's pedigree. Due to Johnson's well-documented financial straits, he will still owe two creditors 10 percent of his new contract. However, taking a little less to play in Pittsburgh is pretty compelling evidence of his desire to win. He was apparently so excited, he and his wife were already looking at houses on Sunday when he unexpectedly stopped by the Lemieux Sports Complex to sign his contract in person.
"We’re absolutely thrilled to be here," he said. "It just seemed a perfect fit in every which way. Feel very blessed to have the opportunity to be here and be a Pittsburgh Penguin. My wife said it checked off all the boxes (as a family)."
The 2005 first rounder, selected third overall, two behind Crosby, has 278 points — 66 goals and 212 assists, 0.35 points per game — in 788 career games. Perhaps a better reason to bring Johnson aboard is his ability to play his best in the biggest moments. In 23 career playoff games, he had five goals and 16 assists for 21 points (0.91 points per game).
Playing with a strong supporting cast, Johnson's skill set should help improve the Penguins' all-important transition game.
"Getting the puck out of (the defensive zone) as quickly as possible is part of playing defense. The less time you play down there, the better," he said. "Being able to get it to world-class players like Sid, Malkin, Kessel and the list goes on and on, it makes my job a little easier and a lot more fun."
In signing the 31-year-old defenseman along with 41-year-old Matt Cullen, it's yet another example that the Penguins are very much in win-now mode after failing this spring to become the first team in 36 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cups.
But in assessing his team following their loss to the Capitals, Rutherford felt some upgrades were necessary, particularly to the defense corps.
"We feel we that we have good balance in our forwards and that we needed another defenseman to bring that balance," Rutherford said. "One of the of the things we lacked last year was three pairings that we had a puck mover on it. Jack's a good skater, a good puck mover. He can play both sides, he can play on either special team."
Johnson should provide a sizable upgrade over Matt Hunwick, who was dealt last week to Buffalo along with Conor Sheary.
Subject to change, obviously, the Penguins defense corps could shake out like this:
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Olli Maatta-Justin Schultz
Jack Johnson-Jamie Oleksiak
The addition of Johnson relegates Chad Ruhwedel as the seventh defenseman, a spot that the organization has long felt that he's best-suited for. The Penguins used 10 defensemen last season, so it's not as if he won't play. Ruhwedel appeared in 44 games last season, including all 12 playoff games, recording five points (two goals, three assists).
Though Johnson won't be asked to play 22:52 per game, his career average after playing just 19:33 last season, he will help consume some of the minutes that Letang logged last season.
The organization has made no secret of its desire to better manage the star defenseman's minutes. Coming off a serious neck injury that sidelined him the final five months of the 2016-17 season, Letang resumed a heavy workload last season, averaging 25:20 — eighth-most in the league — but struggled to regain his previous form.
Since Johnson is a left shot, it would seem likely that Oleksiak would remain on the right side if he is re-signed. The 6-foot-7, 255-pound blueliner is the most notable restricted free agent that Rutherford still would like to get under contract. Oleksiak is a left shot who can play either side and has stated that he has no preference.
In addition to the term, the only question is whether Johnson is a player in decline.
First, as the Hunwick signing showed, Rutherford has had no problems convincing other GMs that his trash might be their treasure. The Penguins should have little problem getting out from under Johnson's contract if it ever came to that.
Secondly, under Jacques Martin and Sergei Gonchar, the organization has staked its reputation in recent years on being able to revive the careers of defensemen. The Penguins can count Justin Schultz, Ian Cole, Trevor Daley, and Oleksiak among their best reclamation projects.
"It’s two-fold," Rutherford explained. "It's the players they’re playing with, it's the forwards they’re playing with. But it's also our coaching staff. Our guys really do a terrific job working with these players. I’ll always put my money on Sergei Gonchar. He’s a real special person when it comes to one-on-one with these guys."
Johnson would seem to fall in the category of needing some help after falling out of favor late last season in Columbus. After the Blue Jackets acquired Cole at the trade deadline, Johnson's role decreased dramatically. He was a healthy scratch the entire postseason even after John Tortorella's team blew a 2-0 series lead against Washington in the first round.
Rutherford intimated that the benching was not performance-related, while Johnson declined to discuss it. Johnson's game has long been panned by the analytics community, but the GM said that the organization has done its due diligence. He added that Mike Sullivan and Gonchar both scoured through Blue Jackets tape and found no cause for concern.
"There was a real comfort level," Rutherford said. "None of this is foolproof. As humans watching players, we make mistakes sometimes. And the analytics aren't always accurate. But we’re very comfortable that Jack's going to help our team."
Johnson's signing comes after he suffered through the worst statistical season since his rookie year, registering three goals and eight assists in 77 games in 2017-18.
That humbling experience though should only serve to motivate the veteran, along with winning a certain silver trophy.
• The Penguins signed four players to one-year, two-way contracts on Sunday. Those players included forward Jimmy Hayes, defensemen Zach Trotman and Stefan Elliott and goalie John Muse.
Trotman played most of last season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but appeared in three NHL games last October. with the Penguins.
Hayes, 28, spent last season with the New Jersey Devils, tallying nine points in 33 games. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Hayes has appeared in 334 NHL games and had a 19-goal season in 2014-15 with Florida. He is the older brother of Rangers forward Kevin Hayes.
Elliott, 27, has played the past two seasons in Europe, skating for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League in ’17-18. He won a gold medal with Canada at the 2018 Olympic Games. He has also appeared in 84 games with the Avalanche, Coyotes and Predators, recording 24 points.
Muse, 27, split last season between the Lehigh Valley of the AHL and Reading of the ECHL. He posted a .919 save percentage in 15 games with the Phantoms, and a .931 mark in 26 games with Reading.
