Photo: Russell Hons / UND athletics

We continue our Washington Capitals annual prospect review and forecast series with Brent Johnson, defenseman for the University of North Dakota and Ohio State University. (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page in the top menu or right here.)

VITALS

Johnson, 20, is a 5’-11”, right-handed defenseman from Frisco, Texas. The Capitals chose Johnson with the 80^th pick overall on the second day of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The Capitals traded down from #75 to #80 in a deal with the New York Rangers that also gave the Capitals the Rangers 176th overall pick in the deal. After playing two seasons with North Dakota, Johnson transferred to Ohio State in April with two years of collegiate eligibility remaining. He remains unsigned by the Capitals.

CAREER SUMMARY

For the 2020-21 season, Johnson played for the Sioux Falls Stampede. He played in 47 games, scoring 11 goals and recording 21 assists for 32 points overall. He lead all defensemen on the team in goals, assists, and points. His point total helped him break the team rookie record for points by a defenseman. He worked his way up on projected draft boards but then his season ended in April due to a shoulder injury. He was named to both the All Rookie Team and the All-USHL Second Team.

Johnson was the first player from Texas to sign up with the University of North Dakota program. He was a regular healthy scratch during the first half of the 2021-22 season, his freshman year at North Dakota, but slowly began to find playing time as the calendar turned to 2022.

The 2022-23 season was a step backwards in Johnson’s development, as he played in just 13 games, most of those games in the first two months of the season. According to Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, Johnson needed to improve the defensive side of his game and become more reliable to increase his ice time.

As a result of the reduction in playing time, Johnson entered the NCAA transfer portal on March 20 and ultimately transferred to Ohio State. [More here]

2022-2023 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS

The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for Brent Johnson during the 2022-2023 season. Also included are his monthly scores (0-5, with 2.5 being average). You can find all of our monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.

OCTOBER

Johnson had two assists for the first multi-point game in his collegiate career on October 8, in a 4-1 victory over Holy Cross. He had an assist on Ethan Frisch’s power-play goal at 19:46 at the end of the first period which increased the team’s lead to 2-0.  His second assist in the game was a secondary assist on the goal that Gavin Hain scored at 16:19 during the second period.

Johnson contributed the secondary assist on North Dakota’s first goal, scored by Blake Jackson scored at 4:17 in the first period in a 6-2 loss to Quinnipiac on October 16. He is +3. He has two blocked shots.

Johnson played in six games in October, missing one, and has three assists for the month and the season.

Monthly Score: 3.0

NOVEMBER

Johnson played on the third defensive pairing for the games during the first two weeks of November and moved up to the second defensive pairing for the weekend of November 18 and 19.

Johnson played in six games in November, scoring one goal and recording two assists. For the season, he has played in 12 games, scored one goal, and recorded five assists. He is +5 for the season. He has taken 13 shots on goal and had blocked 8 shots, blocking 6 of those shots in November. He has taken three minor penalties for the season.

Johnson gets one through! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/vAm6NJBeRS

— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) November 13, 2022

On November 12, North Dakota faced Denver and lost 6-3. Johnson scored the team’s third goal at 13:41 in the third period, which made the score 5-3. This was his first goal of the season.

Johnson earned two assists in a 7-1 victory against Miami of Ohio on November 18. He earned an assist after sending a pass to Griffin Ness who took a shot that bounced off a Miami defender in front and trickled into the back of the net. This goal occurred on the power play at 6:41 in the second period and put North Dakota on top 4-0.

Doink. #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/fkUbwLmZfj

— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) November 19, 2022

Johnson then had a secondary assist on the team’s seventh goal which took place at 4:43 in the third period. Blake finished off a third-period 2-on-1 with a tap-in at the far post on a pass from Jake Schmaltz.

Just taaaap it in! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/TKPKBrZstL

— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) November 19, 2022

Johnson missed both of the team’s games on the weekend of November 25 and 26 with an illness.

Monthly Score: 3.0

DECEMBER

Johnson played in just one game during December and was kept off the scoresheet in that game. He has played in 13 games for the season, scored one goal, and recorded five assists. He is +5 for the season. He has taken 13 shots on goal and blocked 8 shots. He has taken three minor penalties for the season.

Johnson returned to the lineup on December 3, missing three games due to an illness, and was on the third defense pairing. He was a healthy scratch for the games on December 9 and 10.

According to Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, Johnson needs to improve the defensive side of his game and become more reliable to increase his ice time. He has a tremendous skill level but needs to improve his defense.

Monthly Score: 2.0

JANUARY

Johnson played in no games for North Dakota during the month of February. The last game in which he played was on December 3. He has played in just one game since November 19.

Johnson has played in 13 games for the season, scored one goal and recorded five assists. He is +5 for the season. He has taken 13 shots on goal and had blocked 8 shots. He has taken three minor penalties for the season.

It appears he is now on the bottom of the defenseman depth chart for North Dakota.

Monthly Score: 2.0

FEBRUARY

Brent Johnson played in no games for North Dakota during the month of February. The last game in which he played was on December 3. He has played in just one game since November 19.

Johnson has played in 13 games for the season, scored one goal, and recorded five assists. He is +5 for the season. He has taken 13 shots on goal and had blocked 8 shots. He has taken three minor penalties for the season.

It appears he is now on the bottom of the defenseman depth chart for North Dakota.

Monthly Score: 2.0

MARCH

Brent Johnson played in no games for the North Dakota during the month of March. This included the last two games of the regular season and the three-game Big Ten Quarterfinal series, all against University of Nebraska-Omaha. The last game in which he played was on December 3. He played in just one game since November 19.

Johnson played in 13 games for the season, scored one goal, and recorded five assists. He was +5 for the season. He took 13 shots on goal and blocked 8 shots. He took three minor penalties for the season.

Johnson had fallen to the bottom of the defenseman depth chart for North Dakota. This prompted him to enter the transfer portal to find a new college team for which to play. He has not officially transferred to another team as of March 31.

Capitals 2021 Draftee Brent Johnson Enters College Transfer Portal | NoVa Caps (novacapsfans.com)

Monthly Score: 2.0

APRIL

Since he had not played in any game since December, as had trouble breaking back into the lineup after losing time due to injuries, Johnson entered the Transfer Portal on March 20 and on April 14 transferred to Ohio State.

Monthly Score: 2.0

MONTHLY SCORE SUMMARY

PLAYER FORECAST

Johnson’s decision to transfer from North Dakota this spring was the right move. It’s also arguable that Big10 hockey has grown and matured to a point that Johnson will see better competition than he was at North Dakota, once a national powerhouse but not so much in recent years. Will Ohio State be a better fit and allow for more playing time for Johnson? That remains to be seen and something to watch this fall.

Johnson will work on his defense at Ohio State, which will ultimately be his limiting factor. This season will tell a lot about the ceiling for the defenseman.

By Jon Sorensen

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