Marcus Johansson Comes Full Circle

The former first-round selection of the Washington Capitals back in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft has returned to his former team by way of trade. The Capitals sent Daniel Sprong, a fourth round pick in 2022 and sixth round draft selection in 2023 to the Seattle Kraken. Reuniting with fellow-Swede, Nicklas Backstrom, the organization and their fans are familiar with Marcus Johansson.

While far-removed from a career-best campaign in 2016-2017 where he totaled 24 goals and 34 assists for the Capitals, Johansson is still an upgrade over Sprong for Peter Laviolette and the Caps. It’s painfully obvious by now that Sprong did not turn into the player the Capitals had hoped. Yes, he has an elite shot but his shortcomings without the puck and especially defensively earned him limited ice-time in DC. The Kraken get a talented, hungry player that has the potential to be a perennial 20+ goal scorer.

Marcus Johansson will slot in nicely as a bottom-six forward for the Capitals who can play all three forward positions. He has spent the majority of the season as the second-line left-wing on a much-less talented Kraken team. Johansson is well-known for his ability to gain entry to the zone and his play-making abilities which would surely be a welcome addition for the team’s bottom-six group and second power play unit. Johansson, like Conor Sheary can play up and down the lineup in all situations which was something that Sprong wasn’t able to do. Something that Laviolette covets, especially as the team has struggled to remain healthy in 2021-2022.

It’s unclear whether or not Marcus Johansson arrives in-time for tomorrow night’s game against the Blues.

The Kraken will retain 50 percent of Johansson’s contract. In 51 games with the Kraken, MoJo had six goals and 17 assists for 23 points. In 501 career games with the Capitals over the span of seven years, Johansson has 102 goals, 188 assists and 290 points.