Jack Johnson signs a five-year contract with Penguins

CRANBERRY, Pa. – Jack Johnson signed a $ 16.25 million five-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. The 31-year-old defenseman scored 11 points (three goals and eight assists) for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season after scoring 23 points (five goals, 18 assists)

The Penguins traded forward Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick defenseman at the Buffalo Sabers for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL draft on June 27 to create enough room under the salary cap of the NHL to make Johnson's signature possible.

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"It sounded completely normal, said Johnson. "I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to be here, to be a Pittsburgh Penguin … I really wanted to be part of a culture winning and a place where the expectations of winning are as high as they could be. "

Penguins Center Sidney Crosby a friend of Johnson, reached out after the season.

" We had some sort of short conversation about it, "said Johnson. He said that he would like to give me a sales job upon arriving, I saved him some time and I told him that he did not have to do a lot of sales work. "[19659002] "Your job is to play defense first. contribute to the offensive when you can and get the puck out of our zone as quickly as possible. Being able to get it to world class players like Sid, [Evgeni] Malkin, [Phil] Kessel … makes my job a little easier and a lot more fun. "

Johnson was a healthy scratch in each of the six Stanley Cup playoff games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs He called for an exchange in January, citing a reduced role and wishing to better position himself for the free unrestricted agency , but was not traded until the 2018 NHL trade deadline.

The Carolina Hurricanes chose Johnson in the first round (No. 3) of the NHL Entry Draft in 2005 and the Exchanged at the Los Angeles Kings on September 29, 2006. Los Angeles traded in Columbus on February 23, 2012. He has 278 points (66 goals, 212 assists) in 788 NHL games with the Blue Jackets and Kings, and 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 23 playoff games.