In case you hadn't heard, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Ryan Johansen was declared a healthy scratch by head coach John Tortorella for the team's Thursday game against the Arizona Coyotes. This, in the wake of a matchup against the Dallas Stars, wherein Johansen played a sluggish and uninterested game, which eventually saw him benched for the final period. Tortorella told reporters early Thursday that he hoped sitting for a game would serve as a kind of "reset" for Johansen, the team's No. 1 center and, supposed, franchise player.
But reports and rumors have already begun to swirl that Johansen's time in Columbus could be drawing to close. Earlier this year, it was suggested that Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen was "testing" Johansen's value on the trade market, and just this week it was reported that there are teams in the NHL that are already of the mind that Johansen will be dealt.
Now, TSN's Bob McKenzie is reporting that teams around the league have begun doing their "due diligence" on Johansen, likely in an effort to determine if his problems with fatigue and conditioning will be deal breakers come trade time.
"But I tell you what. I know some of the teams that are interested in Johansen and they want satisfaction in terms of, 'Does this guy have some issues in terms of work ethic, or consistency, or what have you'" McKenzie said Thursday, while appearing on Vancouver's TSN 1040, via Today's Slap Shot.
"So this is not just me throwing stuff up against the wall. There are National Hockey League teams out there that wonder a little bit about what's going on with Ryan Johansen."
Of course, as McKenzie notes, there's simply no questioning Johansen's talent level. He's a premier player on a struggling team - in some ways, it makes sense that his game has fallen off a bit as the Blue Jackets blunder their way to the basement of the Metropolitan division.
That being said, there are likely plenty of fans and teams who think such an excuse is garbage. Knowing Tortorella, he probably feels the same way.
The gruff head coach has consistently indicated a belief that it will be a "process" getting Johansen to act and train and carry himself as a professional hockey player. With the entire Blue Jackets squad still getting their bearings under Torts, it makes sense that Johansen may not yet know exactly what it is the team wants to see out of him.
But if he continues to play poorly and doesn't take this "reset" to heart, Kekalainen may have no choice but to send Johansen packing and recoup whatever assets he can for a guy who has seemingly, to this point, paired first-round talent with a last-place work ethic.
