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Columbus Blue Jackets: On Johnson, Wisniewski & Top Pairing Defensemen

January 28, 2015, 10:39 AM ET [9 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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Not every team has a legitimate No. 1 defenseman, and you have to make the best with what you have, but one odd decision Todd Richards makes on a nightly basis is floating Johnson out on the team's top pairing, and giving him huge minutes against tough competition.

Johnson regularly gets crushed in possession and brings very little offensively, yet he remains on the top pairing night after night.

James Wisniewski is clearly the team's best defenseman - in terms of possession and offense from the back end - yet he's not given as much responsibility as Johnson is; at least at even-strength.



As you can see, Wisniewski fares significantly better in possession at even-strength, and produces more offense at both 5 vs 5, and on the power play, regardless of who he has played with.

This is over a large sample size, too, so it's not as if Johnson is being weighed down (or Wisniewski's being elevated) by some puck luck.

Domenic Galamini has been producing charts that measure a player's offensive production, possession numbers, etc. and group each stat based on the group the total falls in (bottom pairing, top-4, top pairing) and Johnson's numbers are atrocious for a guy some consider a top pairing defenseman.



Johnson only records secondary assists and generates scoring chances at a top-4 level. Every thing else is bottom pairing production. Despite getting crushed on a nightly basis, he continues to be trotted out on the top pairing.

He's an NHL defenseman, but he shouldn't be on the top pairing, and perhaps he'd be able to contribute at a respectable level if some of the load was taken off him, and handed to more capable hands in James Wisniewski.

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