Feb 22, 2019
Leafs feel Johnsson breaking out at the perfect time
The Maple Leafs winger had a very slow start to his season, but a recent offensive surge has him back on track to fulfilling his potential, Kristen Shilton writes.
TORONTO – Depending on which Maple Leaf you ask, the origin of winger Andreas Johnsson’s unusual nickname (Mango) is either unknown or curiously debated.
That is until the inquiry reaches Johnsson’s linemate Kasperi Kapanen, who mentions a dinner where his longtime teammate was named after the fruit.
“I know where it comes from, but that’s a long story. I don’t know if I can tell you,” Kapanen said after the Leafs’ practice on Friday. “It’ll be a secret until the day I die.”
It’s a tale so classified that not even Johnsson’s other linemate, Auston Matthews, has heard it, but he uses “Mango” exclusively in reference to Johnsson anyway, like everyone else.
Everyone, that is, except head coach Mike Babcock, who rejects the moniker and has labelled Johnsson “Little John” in differentiation from “Big John” Tavares.
Johnsson says Mango first surfaced back in high school, without revealing any backstory. It’s somehow fitting that the genesis of his nickname is so oblique, considering the circuitous path Johnsson’s career has taken.
Johnsson, 24, is just now in his rookie NHL season with the Leafs. After more than half a season of fits and starts, he’s finally beginning to look like a potential star.
Drafted in the seventh round (202nd overall) by Toronto in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the Gavle, Sweden native spent three seasons with Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League before joining the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies in the spring of 2016 for their playoff run.
Two games into his North American tenure, Johnsson suffered a concussion that limited him into the next Marlies’ season.
The Leafs gave him a 15-game audition through the end of their 2017-18 regular season and first-round playoff run, where the winger tallied three goals and two assists. He then returned to the AHL, earning Calder Cup playoff MVP honours while leading the Marlies to the franchise’s first championship.
“I want to win. It’s been everything,” Johnsson said of what drove him through the difficult early years of his career. “They show us in Sweden that even if you get drafted late, you can do it. You feel like even if you get drafted late – even if you don’t get drafted – you can play in the SHL and feel like you have a good chance [to advance].”
Starting with the Leafs this season was supposed to be the natural next step for Johnsson, but he struggled for months, toggling between skating on the fourth line and being a healthy scratch.
He slowly worked his way up to where he is now, playing on a line with Matthews in Toronto’s top six. Johnsson has six goals and four assists in his last eight games, and 16 goals and 16 assists in 53 games overall this season.
“[He had] a slow start this season with us, but he’s turned it on and is one of our best players of late,” said Matthews. “[Our staff] turned a seventh-round pick into a guy like Johnny, who’s playing unbelievable. It’s a blast playing with him; he’s got so much talent and skill. I think it’s pretty amazing to see.”
Along with his offensive tools, Johnsson has emerged by marrying his size and tenacity in unexpected ways. Standing 5-foot-10 and 181 pounds, Johnsson doesn’t have the build of a bully who can create havoc down low or thrive in the dirty areas of the ice, but that’s exactly where Johnsson is at his best.
“He’s way heavier than he appears,” said Babcock. “His ability to hang onto the puck in traffic and then win it back [is big]. Seems to be able to cut guys arms off and be in lanes and be in position to do that. Good players want to play with guys who get the puck.”
Babcock reunited Johnsson with Matthews during Thursday’s loss to the Washington Capitals after slotting them together for a spell earlier this winter. The chemistry reignited instantly, with the duo connecting on a third-period goal and Johnsson putting a career-high 10 shots on net.
Johnsson also has two of the four goals the Leafs’ suddenly anemic offence has managed in the past three games. The continued success of his reconstructed line with Matthews and Kapanen could be the key to Toronto turning things around after losing three straight.
“Down low, there’s not a lot of time and space and guys are closing in on you,” Matthews said. “To be able to manoeuvre out of those areas [like Johnsson does] and make plays in guys’ sticks or feet, little seam plays and give-and-gos…It’s nice to have a guy who’s there supporting you and making plays easy.”
As Babcock noted, Johnsson’s game was improving before his breakout performances over the past three weeks; it just took time for the shine to appear. Now that it has, only Johnsson knows how dominant he can become.
With restricted free agency looming for him this summer, Johnsson's hardly hurting for motivation to make a strong push into this final stretch of the regular season.
“He’s going to decide what the ceiling is for him,” Babcock said. “…He’s worked hard at his game, developed. He’s good about getting [the puck] back…but his engine allows it. The engine of the good players is so good they can just keep coming shift after shift after shift and that’s what he seems to be able to do and sustain his play.”