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Why the Erik Johnson trade was necessary |
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Disclaimer: This isn't a statement on which team "won" the Erik Johnson trade but rather a take on why the Avs had to take the chance.
Watching the playoffs, it is clear that the risky move to acquire Erik Johnson was a move the Colorado Avalanche had to make.
Especially out west, it is clear that each playoff team needs a minute-munching defenseman who can play in all situations.
Looking at the final four teams in the west that fact is clear. Los Angeles has Drew Doughty, St. Louis has had Alex Pietrangelo, Nashville has Ryan Suter and Shea Weber and Phoenix has Keith Yandle and most recently, Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Out west, names like Nicklas Lidstrom, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrooke, Dan Boyle, Brent Burns and Kevin Bieksa dot the playoff leaders in time on.
Even with the Avs' plethora of defensive prospects, they lacked a player who could do what Johnson does, even when he's struggling. Kevin Shattenkirk might have been able to play top pairing minutes but while Shattenkirk has gotten better dealing with physical play, the series against the Kings showed he has a way to go before he's honestly considered a top pairing defenseman.
Stefan Elliott and Tyson Barrie are both smaller and offense-first players. Cameron Gaunce has the intangibles to lead but he breaks down when plays a lot of minutes, especially on a consistent basis. Behind them, the pool gets a little shallow, offering 5-6 pairing defensemen at best.
To get Johnson, the Avs had to ship off Shattenkirk and power forward Chris Stewart. With Elliott and Barrie in the system, the Avs could part ways with Shattenkirk and considering the Avs were probably going to draft Gabriel Landeskog no matter what, even if they had to trade up to get him, Stewart was replaceable as well.
In return the Avs got their leader on defense. Johnson had a rough first half of the season but his second half gave the fans a reason to hope he could become the player the Avs needed. As a bonus the Avs also got the guy who could teach the Avs' forwards how to play defense and kill penalties. The cherry on the top could be Duncan Siemens who projects to be a rougher, tougher defender to pair with one of the smaller faster guys (probably junior defensive partner Elliott.)
The Avs found out the hard way what happens in the NHL when all you can do is score. In 2010-11, they were scoring nearly five goals a game and still only winning by one goal. When the scoring got tougher, as it always does in the second half and injuries hit, the Avs went into a tailspin and ended up drafting Landeskog.
It was then they decided to change the way they do things. They shipped off the struggling Stewart with Shattenkirk for Johnson and McClement. General Manager Greg Sherman was tired of teams scoring on the Avs at will. He traded two good offensive players to try to kick start the defensive overhaul that was in dire need four years ago.
That is not to say that Johnson is perfect. He sometimes forgets he is best when he is skating and keeps his feet moving, has problems reading the play on the rush and occasionally forgets at 6'4 230, he doesn't need to play like a pussy cat. Johnson is not on the level of Yandle, Weber, Suter or Doughty, at least not yet. Johnson improved over the year in each of his weaknesses and became the Avs' best defenseman.
The trade was laughed at as an overpayment for a bust of a first overall pick. However, the fact of the trade remains true: it needed to be done. The way the Avs were going they were only going to be a one-and-done team in the playoffs, considering their spotty-at-best defense.
Trading for Johnson, overpaying (let's all admit it) for Semyon Varlamov, signing Jan Hejda were all moves to try to bring the Avs the same stability you see in the teams in the playoffs.
The winner of the Colorado-St. Louis trade won't be known for years but that doesn't deny the fact that it was a trade the Avs needed to make.
Now all they have to do is re-sign him to an extension.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
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