Let’s talk about: Wyatt Johnston

[LudwigVonKarlsson]

Cant believe that Ottawa drafted Boucher ahead of this guy..or anyone else.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Hot take or whatever but he's going to be their most valuable forward from next season forward. Fantastic player. I'm a fan. He should be the #1C

 

[Klockis]

Hot take or whatever but he's going to be their most valuable forward from next season forward. Fantastic player. I'm a fan. He should be the #1C

He arguably already is. Robertson is the only other contender imo

 

[ORRFForever]

In the words of that car commercial that's getting a lot of airtime during these playoffs, "dream on".

I also believe my Leafs will win in 7 so... I can always dream.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Cant believe that Ottawa drafted Boucher ahead of this guy..or anyone else.

Johnston was the 2nd or 3rd biggest reach in the 1st round at the time (behind Boucher and maybe Stillman). He was projected to go in the 40s due to the O not playing and him being stuck in the bottom 6 at the u18 in Frisco.

He just popped off incredibly well in his D+1 so it worked out. They were also very fortunate to get Stankoven in the 2nd. I remember Stars fans were pissed they didn't take Stankoven in the 1st round with the Johnston pick and ended up getting Stankoven anyway. It has worked out incredibly well.

In regards to the Boucher pick, public consensus was the Senators should take one of Lucius, Lysell, Sillinger, Wallstedt, or Coronato.

 

[LudwigVonKarlsson]

Johnston was the 2nd or 3rd biggest reach in the 1st round (behind Boucher and maybe Stillman). He was projected to go in the 40s due to the O not playing and him being stuck in the bottom 6 at the u18 in Frisco.

He just popped off incredibly well in his D+1 so it worked out. They were also very fortunate to get Stankoven in the 2nd. I remember Stars fans were pissed they didn't take Stankoven in the 1st round with the Johnston pick and ended up getting Stankoven anyway. It has worked out incredibly well.

In regards to the Boucher pick, public consensus was the Senators should take one of Lucius, Lysell, Sillinger, Wallstedt, or Coronato.

Interesting regarding johnston, it looks like he was severaly overlooked and the stars hit 2 home runs with those picks.
I agree with the consensus of taking one of Lucius, Lysell, Sillinger, Wallstedt, or Coronato, it's a real shame we took arguably the worst guy in the entire first round.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Wyatt plays chess while everyone else looks for the checkers set that was thrown out last year

 

[yeaher]

Massive failure if the Stars don’t win a few cups with this elite core.

You can that about a few teams

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Wallstedt better be very good.

 

[rahad]

What a big steal from Dallas. he probably goes in the top 5 with out covid. He is going to have a great career.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I think he's sick and all, but I'll wait until 2025-26's season end to have a comment.

 

[Aurinko]

I think he's sick and all, but I'll wait until 2025-26's season end to have a comment.

You are not wrong. It's a complete different scenario heading into playoffs being a forward with pressure to succeed. While the Stars do have the cap to keep him, he isn't going to be cheap to keep.

 

[oconnor9sean]

Next year's Dallas team is probably going to be deeper and better than this year's Dallas team.

The 22-year-old, first-round-pick AHL MVP can't even get a spot in the lineup right now with two guys injured.

 

[ElGuapo]

He just put up 65 points averaging exactly 17 minutes and on PP2. If you’re talking possible ceilings he could be a ~110 point guy. He shoots a ton (little over ~3 shots/game) and has been quite consistent so far at 15%. He’s a big game player, thrives in the clutch, is very consistent. If you look at his production d+1 to now I’d wager it’s quite similar to many current 100+ point guys

That's what I was thinking. Someone a month ago said he was on an 87 point, 46 goal pace in his previous 36 games at that point. And his minutes and role is going to increase. Maybe he's just on a really long hot streak right now but if that's going to be consistent yeah he's got over 100 point potential.

 

[syz]

 

[HockeyWooot]

He was my darkhorse Conn Smythe pick before playoffs started, he looks good.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

He did it again

 

[Azzuri]

He's literally a clone of Pavelski, its insane. Very nice of Joe to leave his spawn in Dallas at the end of his career.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Underrated lethal release

 

[NordiquesForeva]

I'll get some push-back on this, but Wyatt Johnston reminds me a lot of Joe Sakic. Offensively, they rely on quickness, deception, a lethal release, and being in the right place at the right time (hockey iq) more than any one superlative skill that jumps off the page. Johnston seems to have the "clutch" factor that Sakic had, with him taking over in big games. In junior, both players were tremendous playmakers, but Sakic's shooting ability gradually took over as his primary skill and it seems like Johnston is following a similar path. Johnston has certainly raised his level of play in the playoffs similar to what Sakic did - but he's doing it a much younger age.

As prospects, both were drafted much later than they should have been - Sakic at #15 in 1987, Johnston at #23 in 2021. The circumstances around their draft position were a little unusual, with 1987 being a defense-heavy draft (9 d-man were drafted ahead of Sakic) and 2021 being after the weird covid year in which Johnston didn't play. Similar concerns over size/speed. Both won the "player of the year" awards for their respective junior leagues and led their leagues in scoring in their draft + 1 year (Sakic also won CHL player of the year). Johnston had more team success in Windsor than Sakic did in Swift Current, but Sakic does a WJHC gold medal in his trophy case.

The only real major difference between the two in my eyes is that Johnston came into a much more favourable situation (for winning) in Dallas than Sakic did in Quebec. Sakic was ready to assume the #1 centre role almost immediately when he made the Nordiques, while Johnston (to his immense credit) has gradually earned more playing time as in now in a #1A/#1B situation with Hintz, while also seeing time on Hintz's wing.

Is there anyone left that is not penciling in Johnston's name on the 2025 World Cup or 2026 Olympic rosters for Canada?

Johnston is just so f***ing good. I'm excited to see where he goes from here.

 

[Dr Pepper]

If Wyatt ends up with even half the career accomplishments that Joe Sakic amassed with the Nords/Avs, I'll be thrilled.

Looks like he's off to a good start, at least.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I'll get some push-back on this, but Wyatt Johnston reminds me a lot of Joe Sakic. Offensively, they rely on quickness, deception, a lethal release, and being in the right place at the right time (hockey iq) more than any one superlative skill that jumps off the page. Johnston seems to have the "clutch" factor that Sakic had, with him taking over in big games. In junior, both players were tremendous playmakers, but Sakic's shooting ability gradually took over as his primary skill and it seems like Johnston is following a similar path. Johnston has certainly raised his level of play in the playoffs similar to what Sakic did - but he's doing it a much younger age.

As prospects, both were drafted much later than they should have been - Sakic at #15 in 1987, Johnston at #23 in 2021. The circumstances around their draft position were a little unusual, with 1987 being a defense-heavy draft (9 d-man were drafted ahead of Sakic) and 2021 being after the weird covid year in which Johnston didn't play. Similar concerns over size/speed. Both won the "player of the year" awards for their respective junior leagues and led their leagues in scoring in their draft + 1 year (Sakic also won CHL player of the year). Johnston had more team success in Windsor than Sakic did in Swift Current, but Sakic does a WJHC gold medal in his trophy case.

The only real major difference between the two in my eyes is that Johnston came into a much more favourable situation (for winning) in Dallas than Sakic did in Quebec. Sakic was ready to assume the #1 centre role almost immediately when he made the Nordiques, while Johnston (to his immense credit) has gradually earned more playing time as in now in a #1A/#1B situation with Hintz, while also seeing time on Hintz's wing.

Is there anyone left that is not penciling in Johnston's name on the 2025 World Cup or 2026 Olympic rosters for Canada?

Johnston is just so f***ing good. I'm excited to see where he goes from here.

Was Johnston hurt for the Edmonton 2022 Summer World Junior? Or did he just decide not to go? Honestly can't quite remember

 

[Dr Pepper]

Was Johnston hurt for the Edmonton 2022 Summer World Junior? Or did he just decide not to go? Honestly can't quite remember

Stankoven was selected, maybe they just passed over Johnston that year.

 

[ameselare]

I'll get some push-back on this, but Wyatt Johnston reminds me a lot of Joe Sakic. Offensively, they rely on quickness, deception, a lethal release, and being in the right place at the right time (hockey iq) more than any one superlative skill that jumps off the page. Johnston seems to have the "clutch" factor that Sakic had, with him taking over in big games. In junior, both players were tremendous playmakers, but Sakic's shooting ability gradually took over as his primary skill and it seems like Johnston is following a similar path. Johnston has certainly raised his level of play in the playoffs similar to what Sakic did - but he's doing it a much younger age.

As prospects, both were drafted much later than they should have been - Sakic at #15 in 1987, Johnston at #23 in 2021. The circumstances around their draft position were a little unusual, with 1987 being a defense-heavy draft (9 d-man were drafted ahead of Sakic) and 2021 being after the weird covid year in which Johnston didn't play. Similar concerns over size/speed. Both won the "player of the year" awards for their respective junior leagues and led their leagues in scoring in their draft + 1 year (Sakic also won CHL player of the year). Johnston had more team success in Windsor than Sakic did in Swift Current, but Sakic does a WJHC gold medal in his trophy case.

The only real major difference between the two in my eyes is that Johnston came into a much more favourable situation (for winning) in Dallas than Sakic did in Quebec. Sakic was ready to assume the #1 centre role almost immediately when he made the Nordiques, while Johnston (to his immense credit) has gradually earned more playing time as in now in a #1A/#1B situation with Hintz, while also seeing time on Hintz's wing.

Is there anyone left that is not penciling in Johnston's name on the 2025 World Cup or 2026 Olympic rosters for Canada?

Johnston is just so f***ing good. I'm excited to see where he goes from here.

His 200ft game is so impressive too. DeBoer pushed for him to make the lineup out of camp last season and plays him in all situations. He went through a slight sophomore slump partway through this season, then pushed through and has been Dallas' best player since the All-Star Break. It's not like he's a passenger on a stacked team, he's one of the best players on a stacked team, and only turns 21 in like... a week.

 

[Starry Knight]

Was Johnston hurt for the Edmonton 2022 Summer World Junior? Or did he just decide not to go? Honestly can't quite remember

Injured, if I remember correctly.