Dallas Stars: Last Year’s Grade, Next Year’s Guess: Stephen Johns

When the Dallas Stars gave Stephen Johns a three-year extension this summer, many fans were thrilled to hear the news, but how good was Johns’ season?

In today’s installment of our series of Dallas Stars player grades, the focus is on Johns, who played in all but 7 games this season after having a breakout year in 2016-17.

Last Season

Stephen Johns’ 2017-18 Grade: B-

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Johns had a decent year despite the inconsistent mess that was the Stars’ third pairing for much of the year. With both Julius Honka and Marc Methot in and out of the line-up, Johns was shuffled around a bit. Adding in the extra defenseman the Stars had up on the roster at different points (Jamie Oleksiak, Dillon Heatherington) made it even more of a mess for Johns as he played through the season.

He succeeds best at playing a physical, defensive game. He led the team in both hits and blocked shots, and he was a distant third on the team in defensive point share behind John Klingberg and Esa Lindell. He’s also a regular on the penalty kill, where his shot blocking is an asset.

The problem with Johns is that his possession numbers aren’t good. Leading the team in blocked shots means that you’re often on the ice while the other team is shooting. Playing shorthanded certainly contributed to his high blocked shot total, and it’s better to block the shots than to let them go in, but it’s one of those stats where leading the team isn’t universally a good thing. Johns ended the year at a +10, but his relative Corsi wasn’t very good and it was a significant decrease from his 2016-17 season.

Johns also has a tendency to make bad decisions on the ice. He likes to go for hits every chance he gets, but it often backfires because he doesn’t think it through, sometimes resulting in a penalty but more often losing the opportunity the regain possession or leaving an opening where he was supposed to be. He was also fifth on the team in giveaways, which isn’t horrible, but something he needs to work on.

Next Season

After getting a nice contract extension, Johns can’t take his foot off the pedal because he feels momentarily secure. The Stars may have cleared up some of the congestion on the defensive end with the departures of Hamhuis, Pateryn, Oleksiak, and Nemeth over the last year, but there are more players coming. The team signed Polak, Heatherington is looking to break in, and it looks like Heiskanen will be making his NHL debut this fall.

Johns’ spot is no doubt secure to start the fall season, but if he has a bad stretch, there are plenty of guys ready to replace him if they’re given the shot. However, Johns has improved over each season, and he’s given no real reason for concern at this point that he won’t do even better next year. If he can work to improve on his bad decisions and possession numbers, he’ll be looking at a fantastic season next year.

We’re officially halfway through looking at last season’s players, but stay tuned for more in the next few weeks. After that, we’ll move on and grade last year for the new players joining the team, so keep watching and sharing your personal grades in the comments.