If there was ever a team going for a three-peat where you could make the squad with no professional experience this year's Penguins team would be the one. Right now they do not have any concrete bottom six center options. Somebody could feasibly play themselves into a look for the fourth line center role.
Right now that somebody could be Adam Johnson.
So far he has played well in his time at prospect camp and last night he put up two goals in his preseason debut with the team. Jim Rutherford signed him to a two-year entry level contract back in July.
The #Pens have signed undrafted free agent forward Adam Johnson to a two-year, entry-level contract. Details: https://t.co/tTLeYWKRib pic.twitter.com/mqfTpRaCr1
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 6, 2017
I haven't really mentioned Adam Johnson at all to this point and that is because I don't know much about him. Here is a little background
A 6-foot, 174-pound product of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Johnson clinched Minnesota-Duluth's berth in the 2017 Frozen Four when he scored an overtime, power-play goal to defeat Boston University, 3-2. Johnson and the Bulldogs eventually fell to Denver, 3-2, in the NCAA championship game.Johnson proved himself to be plenty versatile at Minnesota-Duluth, as he played all three forward positions in 2016-17 - center, left wing and right wing - before filling in on defense late in the season when the Bulldogs had a rash of injuries on the back end. He also manned the point on the power play
That all sounds pretty good. I really like his offensive production as a sophomore, but it is worth pointing out that he was a 23 year old sophomore. That is fine. It just isn't the same as a 20 or 21 year old sophomore putting up those numbers. His USHL numbers are really good so he has a track record of producing at all levels.
From all accounts he is showing himself well in his time with the Penguins. It isn't the largest sample size to draw from, but it is certainly worth tracking his progress at this point. The Penguins need some help and it would be great if they could fill a hole with a college UFA on an ELC.
It's too early to tell where this will go for Adam Johnson, but he deserves to be on the radar now. If nothing else it looks like the Baby Penguins will be getting another quality forward to use.
Thanks for reading!