Erik Johnson Deserves to Win the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche
No player in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final deserves to win a championship more than Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson.
The 34-year-old blueliner is in his 14th season in the NHL, and he has spent parts of 12 seasons in Denver with the Avs.
12 years with one organization is very uncommon in professional sports. In fact, his time with the Avalanche, which began after being acquired in a trade in February of 2011, currently makes him the longest-tenured player in Denver among the city’s professional franchises.
It is an impressive accomplishment for Johnson, without a doubt, but he has had to put in the time and take his lumps to reach this point.
Erik Johnson deserves to win with the Avalanche.
The 2006 first overall pick, Johnson has dealt with a couple of significant knee injuries in his career, including one while with the St. Louis Blues that kept him out for an entire season.
He bounced back each time, and he has put up solid individual numbers throughout his career. However, he didn’t see Stanley Cup Playoffs action until 2014, his sixth season in the league. The Avalanche lost in the first round and he did not return to the postseason for five years.
In that time, Johnson and company found little team success, highlighted by a dismal 22-win performance during the 2016-2017 season.
It hasn’t always been pretty, but Johnson has been through it all with the Avs, making him the type of player that fans want to see win this time of year.
He has been a big part of this team’s current success, recording 25 points (eight goals and 17 assists) to go with a career-best plus-22 rating during the regular season.
In the playoffs, Johnson has scored five points and is a plus-11 in his team’s 15 games played.
Related Story. Corey Perry’s Unique Quest for a Second Stanley Cup Title. light
He’s not one of the first players that come to mind when one recalls former top picks, nor does he strike fans as a must-have defenseman. Yet, he has been the model of consistency for the Avalanche and is now three wins away from his first Stanley Cup championship.