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Erik Johnson

#6 · Defence · Colorado Avalanche

Born Mar 21, 1988 in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA · 6'4", 225 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 1st overall in 2006 by STL (round 1)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2021-22

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2020-21. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Tarmo Reunanen NYR · 1 P in 4 GP Kyle Burroughs COL · 1 P in 5 GP Steven Santini STL · 1 P in 3 GP Madison Bowey CHI · 1 P in 2 GP Tony DeAngelo NYR · 1 P in 6 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

01020302007-08: 33 points3307-082009-10: 39 points392010-11: 29 points2910-112011-12: 26 points262012-13: 4 points412-132013-14: 39 points392014-15: 23 points2314-152015-16: 27 points272016-17: 17 points1716-172017-18: 25 points252018-19: 25 points2518-192019-20: 16 points162020-21: 1 points120-212021-22: 25 points252022-23: 8 points822-232023-24: 6 points62024-25: 5 points524-25

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2007-08 STL 69 5 28 33 -9 28 105 87 0.48 $850K
2009-10 STL 79 10 29 39 1 79 186 70 0.49 $850K
2010-11 STL 55 5 14 19 -8 37 108 67 0.35 $2.6M
2010-11 COL 22 3 7 10 -5 19 53 32 0.45
2011-12 COL 73 4 22 26 -7 26 155 123 0.36 $2.6M
2012-13 COL 31 0 4 4 -3 18 64 44 0.13 $3.75M
2013-14 COL 80 9 30 39 5 61 157 136 0.49 $3.75M
2014-15 COL 47 12 11 23 2 33 115 93 0.49 $3.75M
2015-16 COL 73 11 16 27 -19 50 175 126 0.37 $3.75M
2016-17 COL 46 2 15 17 -6 9 96 87 0.37 $6M
2017-18 COL 62 9 16 25 3 58 168 114 0.40 $6M
2018-19 COL 80 7 18 25 8 38 144 124 0.31 $6M
2019-20 COL 59 3 13 16 9 20 99 97 0.27 $6M
2020-21 COL 4 0 1 1 2 2 5 7 0.25 $6M
2021-22 COL 77 8 17 25 22 24 139 165 0.32 $6M
2022-23 COL 63 0 8 8 8 12 98 121 0.13 $6M
2023-24 BUF 50 3 0 3 -5 24 40 93 0.06 $3.25M
2023-24 PHI 17 2 1 3 -9 2 20 50 0.18
2024-25 PHI 22 1 2 3 -3 11 14 40 0.14 $1M
2024-25 COL 14 1 1 2 4 4 23 19 0.14
17 seasons Career 1023 95 253 348 -10 555 1964 1695 0.34

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2013-14 COL 7 1 1 2 -6 2 13 15 0.29
2018-19 COL 12 2 1 3 -1 4 25 33 0.25
2019-20 COL 6 0 2 2 1 0 15 3 0.33
2021-22 COL 20 1 4 5 10 4 30 79 0.25
2022-23 COL 7 1 0 1 0 0 8 34 0.14
2024-25 COL 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 0.00
6 seasons Playoffs 54 5 8 13 4 10 95 169 0.24

2020-21 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 0 1 1 2 2 5 7 0.25 0.0 13:26

Contract

$6MCap hitends in 2023, then UFA
$6MCap dollars per point1 points in 4 games
$45.31MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.1 goals above replacement

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up.

The contract

Signed by the Colorado Avalanche on Sep 22, 2015, as an extension of the contract he was on: 7 years and $42M, beginning in 2016-17. It runs through 2022-23, with 2 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2016-17 $6M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC, NMC
2017-18 $6M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC, NMC
2018-19 $6M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC, NMC
2019-20 $6M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC, NMC
2020-21 $6M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC, NMC
2021-22 $6M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC, NMC
2022-23 $6M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC, NMC

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 1, 2024 Philadelphia Flyers New contract (35+) 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $1M $1M
Jul 1, 2023 Buffalo Sabres New contract (35+) 2023-24 to 2023-24 1 $3.25M $3.25M
Sep 22, 2015 Colorado Avalanche Extension 2016-17 to 2022-23 7 $42M $6M
Jul 3, 2012 Colorado Avalanche New contract 2012-13 to 2015-16 4 $15M $3.75M
Aug 2, 2010 St. Louis Blues New contract 2010-11 to 2011-12 2 $5.2M $2.6M
May 14, 2007 St. Louis Blues Entry-level 2007-08 to 2009-10 3 $11.1M $850K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2020-21 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2020-21 analytics

Rating

+0.1Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
0.0Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence+0.2Even-strength defence-0.1Power play0.0Penalty kill+0.0Penalties-0.2

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. He has played fewer than 20 games, too few to be ranked. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-505102010-112012-132014-152016-172018-192020-212022-232024-25Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

56.0Corsi for %42 attempts for, 33 against
-1.7CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
58.0Expected goals for %2.0 expected for, 1.4 against
+0.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
56.9Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
75.0Goals for %3 for, 1 against
106.7PDO12.0% shooting + 94.7% saves
5Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Erik Johnson · Ryan Graves322:1050.047.92-1
Erik Johnson · Bowen Byram37:2450.044.70-0
Erik Johnson · Samuel Girard34:1185.795.51-0
Erik Johnson · Devon Toews32:5880.092.50-0

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.2Expected goalsfrom 5 unblocked attempts
-0.2Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.20 expected goals per 60 minutes54th
Shot quality 3.5% chance per attempt71st
Finishing -0.2 goals above expected51stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 218 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.2Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Jan 30, 2021 @ MIN W 5-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 03:21
Jan 28, 2021 vs SJS W 3-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 19:34
Jan 26, 2021 vs SJS W 7-3 0 1 1 1 2 3 1 19:00
Jan 19, 2021 @ LAK W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 11:47