The Bruins have placed veteran forward Tyler Johnson on unconditional waivers, per Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe. The two sides are likely headed for a mutual contract termination.
The 34-year-old Johnson opened the season with the Bruins after signing a professional tryout during training camp, but they didn’t add him to the active roster until signing him to a one-year, league-minimum deal in early November. He’s been seldom used, especially recently, only appearing in one of Boston’s eight games this month. He made a total of nine appearances for the B’s, posting two assists with a -1 rating while averaging 13:05 per game.
It’s far less offense than Boston was expecting from Johnson. A two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Lightning, Johnson had still been an effective middle-six presence for the Blackhawks over the past few seasons while battling injuries. The Washington native picked up 32 goals and 70 points in 149 appearances with Chicago between 2021-22 and 2023-24, averaging just under half a point per game.
In the early stages of his career, Johnson was a high-end, defensively responsible complementary center in Tampa Bay’s top six. From 2013-14 to 2019-20, he posted 150 goals and 333 points in 520 appearances, averaging 24 and 53 per 82 games, respectively. He played all three forward positions and was never a major liability in the faceoff dot when suiting up down the middle.
Johnson was limited to eight goals and 22 points in 55 games in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, though. The Bolts, who could no longer afford to allocate $5MM per season to a declining scorer, packaged him with a second-round pick for cap relief to Chicago, taking on injured blue-liner Brent Seabrook’s contract for long-term injured reserve relief in return.
If Johnson clears waivers tomorrow, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent once again. If there’s still NHL interest in his services, it could result in a rare unconditional waiver claim as he’s already making the league minimum salary.
Now to the Rangers!