The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed forward Kent Johnson to a three-year, $5.4 million contract ($1.8 million average annual value) through the 2026-27 National Hockey League season, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell announced today.
“Kent Johnson is an exciting young player with a lot of potential and we are pleased to watch him continue to grow and develop as a member of the Blue Jackets,” Waddell said. “He has only just shown glimpses of his potential as a player, but we believe he will be a very valuable addition to our hockey club in the future.”
Johnson, 21, has appeared in 130 games with the Blue Jackets since making his NHL debut at the end of the 2021-22 season, averaging 14:03 minutes of ice time while recording 22 goals, 37 assists, 59 points, 26 penalty minutes and 193 shots on goal. He was selected by Columbus with the fifth overall pick in the first round in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The 6-foot, 178-pound forward appeared in 42 games with Columbus in 2023-24, recording 6-10-16 with 10 penalty minutes and 62 shots on goal, then appeared in 79 games in 2022-23, posting 16-24-40 totals with 12 power play points, three game-winning goals and seven multi-point appearances to lead all rookies in scoring, the third-most points at the time and tied for the fourth-most goals in a season by a rookie in franchise history.
A native of Port Moody, British Columbia, Johnson appeared in 10 American Hockey League games with the Cleveland Monsters in 2023-24, recording five goals, 10 assists, 15 minutes and 15 penalty minutes. He played two seasons at the University of Michigan in 2020-22, recording 17 goals, 47 assists and 64 minutes in 58 games. He was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2020-21 and helped the Wolverines reach the Frozen Four in 2021-22.
Johnson has also represented Canada in several international competitions, including the 2022 Olympic Games (1-4-5 in 5 GPs), the 2022 IIHF World Championship (4-3-7 in 10 GPs) and the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship (1-0-1 in 2 Winter GPs, 3-6-9 in 7 Summer GPs), where he scored the golden goal in overtime to lead Canada to a gold medal at the 2022 Summer IIHF World Junior Championship.
Kent Johnson complete statistics
