Dylan McLaughlin and Isaak Phillips — currently playing pro hockey on different ends of the Earth — opened conversations about recent Maple Leafs forward addition Reese Johnson with near-identical statements.
“(Johnson) is going to give it 100 percent every time. He’ll do anything for his team,” said McLaughlin, who plays for Vaxjo in Sweden and was Johnson’s teammate with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.
“One thing you can say is he’s 100 percent, all the time,” said Phillips, a Manitoba Moose defenceman and Johnson’s teammate with the IceHogs and Chicago Blackhawks. “A lot of guys in practice, they’re doing 75, 80 percent. But Reese is going to work his ass off every time.”
The Leafs’ trade for Johnson from the Minnesota Wild for future considerations was announced hours after the 3 p.m. ET trade deadline on March 7. At that point, Leafs nation was still reacting to the acquisitions of defenceman Brandon Carlo and centre Scott Laughton. Then, it was onto the ensuing drama over the team’s request for Mitch Marner to waive his no-movement clause for a possible trade to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Johnson, who has spent most of this season in the AHL, was somewhat lost in the mix. Still, the 6-foot-1 forward eventually worked his way into the Leafs conversation.
“(Johnson) has had to work for everything he’s gotten,” McLaughin said. “He wasn’t drafted, so it’s hard to make a name for himself. He’s used to going under the radar.”
Currently on a one-year contract, Johnson doesn’t want to stay there.
“They traded for me for a reason,” Johnson said.
He’s been assigned to the Marlies, but his 144 NHL games are the most of any Marlie on an NHL contract. His skill set and experience could make him a candidate for a fourth-line role next season under coach Craig Berube and GM Brad Treliving, possibly as a replacement for Connor Dewar.
Johnson believes he can fill that spot. It won’t just be his all-effort, physical style that could get him there. One year spent living with one of the best players in modern NHL history might help, too.
Johnson went undrafted after four junior seasons with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. He wasn’t naturally skilled, so he learned at an early age he had to outwork everyone around him.
Johnson’s gutsy game and leadership qualities grabbed the attention of the Blackhawks, who inked him to a three-year, entry-level contract. He spent the majority of his first two seasons toiling in the AHL with the IceHogs.
But two years into his professional career, with his entry-level deal running out, the foot-to-the-pedal Johnson made an effort to become calmer with the puck throughout his third Blackhawks training camp.
One player in particular was an inspiration: then-Blackhawks captain and future Hall of Famer Jonathan Toews.
“(Toews) was obviously a very calm person with the puck who could make plays,” Johnson said.
The Blackhawks legend immediately took to Johnson. Both were Western Canadians who shared reserved personalities. Neither shied away from hard work. And both had penchants for staying as far off the grid as humanly possible. Johnson is not on Instagram and he noted of Toews with a laugh: “He doesn’t like to be on his phone too much.”
When Toews found out that Johnson, his wife, Tyler, and their dog, Lucy, had been living in a hotel for a few months ahead of the 2021-22 season, he invited them to live in his Chicago home for the season.
“He was pretty lenient on the dog hair on his particular house,” Johnson joked. “It was cringey watching Lucy jump around on his hard wood floors and his couch, but (Toews) was pretty chill.”
But when Lucy would calm down, Johnson and Toews had long conversations.
“I probably asked him a million questions, whether it was about hockey or life, and he was always open to sitting there, answering them all,” Johnson said.
The guidance helped him look at his career differently. Sure, they’d work together on improving his face-off skills after practice. But if Johnson was going to play his physical style year over year, he learned from Toews he’d need to take better care of his body. Toews shared tips on improving his nutrition.
“It was a unique time in his career, and that was when he was beginning to struggle with his health,” Johnson said. “A lot of what I’d ask him about was the physical side and what he’s learned over the years.”
Johnson started the season with the Blackhawks before being sent back to Rockford. The midseason grind and losing his NHL spot had him — as it might any player — wondering if he would ever become an everyday NHLer.
With Toews’ help, the self-doubt didn’t last long.
The conversations that resonated with Johnson most were the ones that weren’t about hockey. If Johnson wanted to be calmer on the ice, he’d have to learn to be calm off of it, too.
The message he took away from Toews after their year together?
“Bring work ethic first and foremost. But then enjoy every moment, not take everything for granted,” Johnson said. “I feel like that’s the right way to enjoy life: not looking back too much, but learning from the past and preparing for the future. But ultimately it’s about living in the moment.”
That’s exactly how Johnson lived on the ice.
Motivated. Making use of every moment. Do anything to help his team win. Using his body to influence games, knowing that he was armed with better tools to help his body recover. In practice, Johnson was a menace.
“Sometimes he’d piss you off,” Phillips said with a laugh, thinking back on those practices together. “But then you go back home and you think about it, you’re happy about it.”
Johnson’s effort influenced games: he skated with more power. He learned to willingly block shots. His defensive detail on the forecheck led to more turnovers.
“He’s not a guy who will sulk, bitch and complain and make some kind of excuse,” Phillips remembers of Johnson getting sent down to the AHL. “He’s just going to get back into the gym.”
And he was always willing to throw a hit to make a play.
“He’ll do the things not every guy wants to do. The things that can be painful,” McLaughin said. “You’re never going to question his effort at all, that’s for sure.”
The Blackhawks didn’t. They called him up for the second half of the 2021-22 season and then re-upped him on another two-year deal. He spent the entirety of 2023-24 in the NHL. He looked like an NHL player.
The Minnesota Wild thought so, too, giving Johnson a one-year contract this season. Yet a training camp upper body injury set him back and he never quite got his footing on the Wild’s NHL roster.
And now, after his trade to Toronto, he’s not only prepared to play Berube-style hockey, but also well-versed on how to do so.
“When I’m at my best, I’m moving my feet,” Johnson said. “I always felt work ethic could beat everything.”
Johnson is fine with starting with the Marlies for now.
At 26, he looks back on his time with Toews and wants to pay it forward. He’s learned to be more vocal on the bench and stick up for teammates when needed. The Leafs added him for Marlies depth ahead of the playoffs and plan to monitor him the rest of the season to see if he’s earned another contract. Not surprisingly, they like how hard he plays. Johnson will be an RFA at the end of this season with arbitration rights.
“I want to show them that I can help them and help the younger guys,” Johnson said of his opportunity with the Marlies. “I want to be a mentor now.”
Living in the moment. Preparing for the future. With a plan in mind — to be in Toronto beyond this season.
“That’s definitely a goal of mine: Being on a one-year deal, I want to earn another contract with this team,” Johnson said, before — fittingly — ending the conversation.
“That’s 100 percent my goal.”
(Photo of Reese Johnson in 2023: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
