Adam Johnson's strengths and shortcomings are no secret.
Johnson, of course, is a strong skater. He's the fastest prospect in the system. He's a playmaker and a goal scorer. He's a versatile forward who is comfortable at both center and wing.
Johnson's weakness, well ... is his weakness.
When the Penguins signed Johnson out of development camp in 2017, following his sophomore season at Minnesota-Duluth, he was 6-feet, 175 pounds. He had the height, but he needed to fill out his frame. Now, in his second-year pro, Johnson is still working on achieving that goal.
"I didn't do too well at getting bigger," Johnson told me of his summer. "I'm still about the same size. But I think each summer I get a little stronger, which is important. I'm just trying to do that and not lose any weight, that's the main thing."
24-year-old Johnson's fast metabolism works against him. He knows he needs to add weight, and that has been his focus throughout his career. In 2014-15, Johnson's final year in the USHL before attending college, he was listed at 6-feet, 155 pounds. His freshman and sophomore roster pages from his time in college both list him as weighing the same 175 pounds he is now. Height and weight statistics are often exaggerated in hockey, so it's hard to truly gauge how he's grown in that regard through college, but Johnson has seemingly plateaued at this size.
"It's tough," he said. "Some people can do it as they please, and for some people it's tough. I've got to battle with it, I've got to eat a lot all the time. Otherwise I can lose it pretty quick. It's something I've got to stay on top of."
For the average person, it would seem like Johnson's problem is a good problem to have. Needing to pack on a few pounds? I could probably do that with a week of overusing my Grubhub app. For players like Johnson, it isn't that simple. Surely he could add bad weight if he so desired, but then he risks compromising his biggest strength, his speed.
Johnson needs to put on good weight, some lean muscle. That means he still has to watch what he eats, even if it does mean eating more often and seeing the results come more slowly.
"I try to eat really healthy," he said. "Some people can just go hammer McDonalds and put on easy weight, but I try to do it in a healthy way. It might make it a little tougher eating healthy, but I think the main thing is just working out and being healthy and getting stronger, even if you're not putting the weight on."
It is far from unheard of to see players of Johnson's size in the NHL. NHL.com lists 30 active players who are at least 6-feet tall but under 180 pounds. Toronto's Mitchell Marner (6-feet, 175 pounds) is one, with 40 points in 30 games. Vancouver's Elias Pettersson (6-feet-2, 176 pounds) leads all rookies in scoring with 30 points through 26 games.
The game is changing, and players like Marner, Pettersson -- and potentially Johnson -- can find success in the NHL without being massive. Speed is becoming increasingly more important, and Johnson has it.
"I think growing up it was hammered into my head that I have to get bigger, that I'm not going to make it unless I get bigger," Johnson said. "I think the game is changing where it's more speed, and more of a speed game instead of big, heavy hitters and fighting. (Size) is becoming not as much as an impact I think, but it's still something where if you want to play in the NHL you have to be strong enough to play there."
Johnson is making an impact at the AHL level this year, registering seven goals and five assists in 26 games. He's only four goals from last season's total of 11 in only a fraction of the games.
The difference, Johnson says, is just being more comfortable as a second-year pro and gaining more confidence.
"I'm off to a better start than last year, so I'm happy about that," Johnson said. "Still been some ups and downs, and I've had some rough patches. I'm just trying to get rid of those and stay consistent, and try to be good every night. It's going well so far, I just hope to keep improving.
"I know I have areas I need to improve before I'm ready to be a full-time NHLer," continued Johnson. "If I can do that, then hopefully I'll start looking for (a call up) and hopefully I can make an impact up there."
MORE FROM WILKES-BARRE
• Dec. 7: vs. Cleveland, 1-0 win
• Dec. 8: vs. Bridgeport, 3-1 win
• Dec. 9: at Hershey, 5-4 shootout win
• Pittsburgh traded Stefan Elliott and Tobias Lindberg to Ottawa in exchange for Ben Sexton and Macoy Erkamps. More on that here. Neither have reported to Wilkes-Barre yet, but both are expected to report soon.
In a related AHL-level deal, Wilkes-Barre acquired forward Ryan Scarfo from Senators affiliate Belleville in exchange for future considerations. Scarfo spent the season between Belleville and ECHL Brampton this season. He was scoreless in six AHL games, and had one goal and one assist in 10 ECHL games. He played in all three Wilkes-Barre games this week and was scoreless.
• Zach Trotman remains out of the lineup with an injury sustained on Nov. 10. With his absence and the Elliott trade, Wilkes-Barre's only active right-handed defenseman is Ethan Prow. Erkamps is also a right-handed defenseman, but he isn't in Wilkes-Barre yet, and he may end up in Wheeling when he does report. It makes Prow the clear choice for a call up if a defenseman is needed.
• Friday's game wasn't a pretty win, but it was a win. Cleveland held Wilkes-Barre to only 20 shots -- five in the first period, 13 in the second, and only two in the third. All it took though, was one. Ryan Haggerty's power play goal in the second period snapped a 40-game goal drought and was the game's lone goal. John Muse earned a 32-save shutout for his first win as a Penguin.
Anthony Angello hit somebody so hard it opened the Zamboni door in the win:
• Bridgeport scored the game's first goal on Saturday in the first period. Wilkes-Barre rallied in the third period with Jeff Taylor's first AHL goal, and Prow's seventh of the year. Teddy Blueger added an empty netter in the final two minutes, his seventh goal of the season. Anthony Peters stopped 21 of 22 shots in the win.
Troy Josephs is a wrecking ball:
• Wilkes-Barre had to rally again on Sunday. The Penguins trailed the Bears, 4-1, 15 minutes into the second period, with the Penguins' only goal coming from Kevin Czuczman. Blueger scored, and then Thomas Di Pauli brought the Penguins within one with only five seconds remaining in the second period. Prow scored in the final minute of the third period to send the game to overtime. Muse stopped 22 of 26 shots, then stopped all nine Hershey shooters in the shootout. Joseph Cramarossa scored the only shootout goal in the ninth round to seal the win.
• Angello, Blueger, and Prow are tied for the team lead in goals, with eight.
• Sam Lafferty and Blueger are tied for the team lead in assists, with 12 in 26 games.
• Blueger leads in points, with 20 in 26 games
• Lines and defense pairings from Sunday:
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger –Anthony Angello
Joseph Cramarossa – Jarrett Burton – Jimmy Hayes
Adam Johnson – Sam Lafferty – Ryan Haggerty
Troy Josephs – Linus Olund – Ryan Scarfo
Kevin Czuczman – Will O'Neill
Chris Summers – Jeff Taylor
Matt Abt – Ethan Prow
• After this week, the Penguins improved to 12-10-3-1. They jumped two spots to fifth in the Atlantic Division. The power play fell to 15 percent, and the penalty kill rose slightly to 74.3 percent, now only second-worst in the league.
• The Penguins will have another three games this week. They’ll visit the Springfield Thunderbirds (13-7-2-2) on Wednesday, host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (14-8-1-1) on Saturday, and visit the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (14-8-3-1) on Sunday afternoon.
GOALS OF THE WEEK
Haggerty had one of his monster shots to snap his goal drought:
Taylor's shot was his first AHL goal:
Prow drove to the net for this backhand goal:
Blueger's no-look shot on Sunday was a beauty:
Prow's increased production this season comes from moving up in the play more often and taking more shots like this:
The Penguins turned to Cramarossa in the ninth round of the shootout, and he delivered:
WILKES-BARRE FUN THING
Linus Olund, Sam Lafferty, Anthony Angello, and Sam Miletic got into the holiday spirit early:
