Preds' Ryan Johansen calls himself out over production

Pressure can wear on athletes and effect their performance because of a lack of focus on all the right things. Insert, Nashville's Ryan Johansen who signed an 8-year-deal in 2017 for $8million dollars per season. Johansen will be the first to tell you, things haven't gone as planned since the deal was signed.


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Before his latest extension, Johansen was making $4 million, and was able to double his salary. Unfortunately, for him and the Preds, his production didn't double and there's been a lot of opinions about if Nashville made the right decision.


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Currently, Johansen sits with 36 points in 68 games, not good enough and he'll be the first to admit it. The Vancouver, BC native hasn't eclipsed 70 points since 2014 when he was playing as a Blue Jacket in Columbus.

Johansen spoke with the Athletic recently and had this to say:

With my role on this team and the standard I hold myself to, I need to outperform No. 1 centers on a night-by-night basis. I need to show my teammates every night, 'Hey, I've got this guy.' I've got to be one of our horses every night. And when that's not happening, it's frustrating. 

Regarding this year in particular, Johansen was brutally honest about how he's handling his personal production:

I'll be honest, it has chewed me up this year. This is an experience I haven't had since I was a young player, and it ate me up. You've got teammates counting on you, you've got this big contract, and you're just trying to find it

Look for Johansen to come back as motivated as ever when hockey returns next month. And given the set-up, he could easily forget about a poor regular season with a solid 2 months of playoff hockey. The Preds certainly hope that's the case, as Johansen isn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

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