The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed forward Kent Johnson to a three-year, $5.4 million contract ($1.8 million AAV) through the 2026-27 National Hockey League season, club President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell announced today.
“Kent Johnson is an exciting young player with tremendous upside, and we are happy that he will continue to grow and develop as a Blue Jacket,” said Waddell. “He is just beginning to scratch the surface of what he can be as a player, and we believe he will be a very important part of our hockey club moving forward.”
Johnson, 21, has registered 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points with 26 penalty minutes and 193 shots on goal, while averaging 14:03 of ice time in 130 career games with the Blue Jackets since making his NHL debut at the end of the 2021-22 season. He was selected by Columbus in the first round, fifth overall, at the 2021 NHL Draft.
The 6-0, 178-pound forward collected 6-10-16 with 10 penalty minutes and 62 shots on goal in 42 games with Columbus in 2023-24. He led team rookies with 16-24-40, 12 power play points, three game-winning goals and seven multi-point outings in 79 appearances in 2022-23, posting the then third-most points and tied for the fourth-most goals by a rookie in a season in franchise history.
A native of Port Moody, British Columbia, Johnson added 5-10-15 and 15 penalty minutes in 10 career American Hockey League contests with the Cleveland Monsters in 2023-24. He played two seasons at the University of Michigan from 2020-22, collecting 17-47-64 in 58 games. He earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors in 2020-21 and helped the Wolverines advance to the Frozen Four in 2021-22.
Johnson has also represented Canada at several international tournaments. He skated for the country at the 2022 Olympic Games (1-4-5 in 5 GP), 2022 IIHF World Championships (4-3-7 in 10 GP) and 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships (1-0-1 in 2 GP in Winter tournament/3-6-9 in 7 GP in Summer tournament) and scored the overtime golden goal to lead Canada to a gold medal at the summer 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships.
