The late-game fatigue issues that were plaguing Columbus Blue Jackets forward Ryan Johansen earlier this season - see; before the arrival of hardnosed head coach John Tortorella - have finally figured out a way to expedite their effect on the Blue Jackets No. 1 center. Johansen, easily one of the most talented players on the Jackets roster and the guy through which the majority of Columbus' offense flows, found himself benched for the final stanza of a Tuesday night game against the vaunted Dallas Stars. By most accounts, he looked lethargic and very much like he didn't want to be on the ice. He saw just 11:03 of ice time as a result. Afterward, Tortorella called it a "coach's decision" to keep Johansen off the ice.
And while one abysmal night an NHL career does not make, recent rumors that Johansen's value was being gauged by Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen seem all the more prescient - and perhaps pressing - now. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman had this to say of the situation on Wednesday, via Chris Nichols...
Friedman: "Columbus - teams think they're going to trade (Ryan Johansen). I don't know. I just think it's hard to find guys like that." #CBJ
— Chris Nichols (@NicholsOnHockey) December 16, 2015
Friedman is, of course, correct that it's difficult to find guys with Johansen's skill level. The former first-round pick now has 189 points in 302 NHL games since entering the league in 2011-12. He posted a 33-goal, 30-assists season in 2013-14 and followed that with a 26-goal, 45-assist effort last year, despite the struggles of the entire Blue Jackets team, thanks in large part to a shocking abundance of injuries and man games lost.
But talent aside, the last thing you want to see in a player expected to pace your team offensively on most nights is a tendency to slack or take games off. And Johansen simply hasn't proven that he's the player who should be at the head of the class for Columbus, especially in a 2015-16 Blue Jackets season that started with such promise and has the look of an NHL campaign that's going to end with a rather impressive thud.
Talk that Johansen could potentially be dealt began to swirl in early Dec., as it was suggested by Friedman that Kekalainen had begun to "test" Johansen's value on the trade market. Johansen, signed by Kekalainen to a three-year, $12 million bridge deal after a protracted negotiation last offseason, had seemingly struck financial fear in the veteran NHL personnel man - Kekalainen was said to be concerned with what Johansen and notoriously abrasive agent Kurt Overhardt would seek on Johansen's next contract.
With cracks appearing in Johansen's overall game and his production suffering as a result - at the time of Friedman's initial report, Johansen had collected six goals and 12 assists in 23 games; eight games later he's added just four assists to his season tally - the notion that he may not continue to develop as hoped is likely costing Kekalainen quite a bit of sleep.
When Torts took over the team, he made clear that one of the things he felt needed to change was Johansen's approach to the game and specifically to preparation.
"It's going to be a process," Tortorella said at the time, via Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "Joey wants to learn, and he does have a lot to learn. It's great, the points, and I don't want to begrudge him that. In St. Louis the other night, he made some really good plays. We didn't score a lot, but he was close. But it's the other part. The other part is how you handle yourself in practice and how you prepare yourself for the practice. Your preparation for games. It's the little things you do as you're trying to become a pro, because Joey has a lot to learn as far as what it is to be a pro."
At just 23, Johansen has plenty of time to mature as a professional and grow into his ample skills. But if another difficult Blue Jackets season continues to slip slowly down the drain and Johansen continues to put up mediocre numbers and, worse, less-than-stellar nightly efforts, don't be surprised if his future NHL home winds up being somewhere other than Columbus - assuming, of course, that Kekalainen can get comparable value out of one of his forward-needy peers.
And considering Kekalainen is reportedly interested in upgrading the Blue Jackets' blueline, Johansen very well may make for an intriguing trade candidate.
