Johnson 'really excited for the opportunity' with Blackhawks
It's been a whirlwind couple of days for new Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson - bittersweet ones that he will never forget.
On the eve of his day with the Stanley Cup, the longtime Tampa Bay Lightning star learned he had been traded to Chicago.
As the life-changing news was still sinking in Wednesday, Johnson met with reporters via Zoom while sitting outside his Spokane, Wash., home.
"Bittersweet is a pretty good word for everything," said Johnson, who has 161 goals and 200 assists in 589 games, all with the Lightning. "I get to celebrate with the Cup, kind of say the last goodbye and get a look forward to the next chapter of my life playing with Chicago."
Johnson was shocked when Lightning GM Julien Brisebois broke the news, but at the same time the soon-to-be 31-year-old has been dealing with trade rumors for years.
"Now that it's finally happened, I think it's going to make my life a lot easier," said Johnson, whose birthday is Thursday. "(I can) kind of relax a little bit; look forward to something, not wondering ... if something's going to happen.
"I'm really excited for the opportunity."
The Hawks acquired Johnson and a second-round pick from Tampa in exchange for the rights to Brent Seabrook on Tuesday. His contract, which carries a $5 million cap hit, runs through the 2023-24 season.
Johnson was a dynamic, do-it-all center early in his career, scoring 53 goals from 2013-15. He then averaged 21 goals the next four seasons, but saw his production drop off in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Johnson scored 8 goals and had 14 assists in 55 games while averaging a career-low 13 minutes, 40 seconds of ice time last season.
"The role's been different in Tampa with just the way our team was built and what we needed," said Johnson, who has always been known as a team-first player. "Our entire team was that way and that's why we won."
"There's a reason Tyler Johnson's trophy case is fairly full," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper after Johnson scored 2 goals in a 6-3 victory over Montreal in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final in July. "He's selfless. There was a time in this organization when we needed to take another step, and he's carried this on for years.
"And as teams change and they evolve and there are (salary cap) issues. ... We never lost faith in him and he never lost faith in himself. You have to adapt and nobody's done it better than Tyler. ... I couldn't be more happy for him after everything he's gone through."
Johnson should have a bigger role with the Hawks. He could easily be paired with Patrick Kane, giving Kane a much-needed boost in talent on his line. He also figures to be a staple on the power play and possibly the penalty kill as well.
Whether Johnson can play up to his $5 million cap hit remains to be seen, but the Hawks were certainly happy to rid themselves of Seabrook's albatross of a contract.
On Wednesday, Johnson planned to take the Stanley Cup to first responders in downtown Spokane. He had other plans with family in friends in the evening.
Then, when Thursday dawns, it's time to think about the next chapter in his life - one he hopes is filled with success in Chicago.
"I've always thought Chicago was a great organization," Johnson said. "When I was planning on signing my first contract, I was lucky and fortunate enough to have quite a few teams come after me. I spoke a lot of time with Chicago. It literally came down to the wire with Chicago and Tampa. It was almost a coin flip.
"I ended up going to Tampa, but it was funny that even talking to Stan (Bowman), he remembered my last two teams were Chicago and Tampa.
"It's funny how it worked out where I get to play for them now."
Tyler Johnson's career statistics
Tyler Johnson's career statistics
Season GP G A Pts. TOI
2012-13 14 3 3 6 13:04
2013-14 82 24 26 50 18:47
2014-15 77 29 43 72 17:14
2015-16 69 14 24 38 17:08
2016-17 66 19 26 45 18:49
2017-18 81 21 29 50 17:00
2018-19 80 29 18 47 15:57
2019-20* 65 14 17 31 14:33
2020-21** 55 8 14 22 13:40
Totals 589 161 200 361 16:41
Notes: All games with Tampa Bay
* 70-game season; ** 56-game season
TOI: Average time on ice