The unofficial start of the holiday shopping season means bargain hunting. Retail artists comb the web and the newspaper fliers searching for those one-of-a-kind hidden bargains that might be the perfect fit.
For Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin, the greatest hidden bargain might have been found way, way before anyone was checking names off their holiday gift list.
In the run-up to what most consider an underwhelming foray into free agency last summer, Guerin signed veteran forward Marcus Johansson to a team-friendly one-year contract worth $800,000 last June.
Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Johansson (90) shoots the puck against Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson (74) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
At the time, Johansson was coming off his 15th NHL season having recorded 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points in 72 games, and his new deal didn’t appear to be a needle-mover. Less than six months later, the same GM who signed Kirill Kaprizov to the richest contract in NHL history also looks like a shrewd value hunter with what Johansson has done so far in 2025-26.
Early returns
A few weeks after he turned 35, and a few weeks before he was honored for hitting the 1,000 career games milestone, Johansson started a hot streak that has coincided nicely with the Wild’s November rise from early disappointment to solidly in the Central Division race.
Entering Wednesday’s meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks, Johansson had posted 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in Minnesota’s previous 15 games, and had everyone wondering if there was a new pregame ritual or superstition at work.
Before a recent win in Pittsburgh in which he scored a goal, Johansson admitted that ignoring the numbers while getting his offense going early in the season has been the key to his success.
“Just trying to play and enjoying it and not worrying too much about anything. Just trying to help the team win, and I think that’s been the main thing,” he explained. “Also, I think sometimes you get some points early, and that kind of makes it easier not to think about it. No one’s talking about you not getting points, so then it comes more naturally, I think.”
Traveling man
Originally from Sweden, Johansson put up some impressive numbers in his home country as a teen, prompting the Washington Capitals to use their 2009 first-round pick on him.
He made his NHL debut two years later and spent his first seven NHL seasons learning the ways of the North American game alongside stars such as Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin.
“Washington, obviously, I was there for such a long time. That’s kind of where I grew up a little bit and we had our first daughter and all that. So that place means a lot to us,” said Johansson, who has two daughters with his wife, Amelia.
In 2017, the Capitals traded Johansson to New Jersey, where he spent two seasons and first played for current Wild coach John Hynes. At the 2019 trade deadline, the Devils shipped him to Boston, where he was a part of the Bruins’ run to the Stanley Cup Final, which they lost to St. Louis in seven games.
“Boston was short, but it was very special, the big group we had there and made it to the finals and all that,” Johansson said of the 32 games he spent there.
From there, Johansson played a season in Buffalo, then a season with the Wild, then part of a season in Seattle, which traded him back to the Capitals — who traded him back to Minnesota late in the 2022-23 season.
He has been here since then. And while they still spend summers in Sweden, for the Johanssons, this feels like home.
“My kids love it in Minnesota. They have a lot of friends, they like their schools and all that, and my wife has her routine. So it makes everything easier,” he said. “Family’s important, so when they’re happy, that makes it easier for me. It’s just been nice to kind of find somewhere that we like and that we enjoy being.”
Working the wing
Playing wing on a line centered by Joel Eriksson Ek, with Matt Boldy on the other wing, Johansson has been part of a symbiotic that has provided the Wild with reliable offense as they rallied from the lousy October to start November with a 9-1-1 run.
With the Wild killing a penalty in Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon, defenseman Brock Faber chipped a puck out of the defensive zone to Johansson, starting a 2-on-1 break toward the Jets’ net. Faber followed the play and was in the right place for Johansson to give the puck back, setting up Faber’s first career shorthanded goal.
“I was screaming (for the puck) just as loud as I could,” Faber said after the game, a 3-0 win. “Jojo’s obviously such a gifted passer, there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t going to pass that thing back.”
For Hynes, the late-career resurgence has not been a surprise. Johansson, he said, is showing some of the things the coach first saw nearly a decade ago in Newark.
“He has played a lot of hockey, and he came back this year,” Hynes said. “Obviously, he has had a great start to the season. He’s one of our more consistent players in the way he plays the game and also some of his point production. So it’s nice to see.”
Career regular season game number 1,000 came in a 2-0 win over Calgary this month. Before the next game, Johansson, along with his family, was honored before the opening faceoff, presented with the traditional silver stick to mark the milestone. All of that, and the points he has posted this season, are very special, he admits.
But having gotten a taste of a deep playoff run in 2019, Johansson said there is one goal only in his mind that fuels everything he does on the ice each game.
“I don’t play to get as many points as possible,” he said. “Towards the end of my career, the only thing I want to do is win, to have a chance to win and win the Stanley Cup. That’s why I’m here, and that’s all I worry about.”
And if that drive and offense come with a bargain price tag, all the better for Guerin and the Wild.
Related Articles
Yakov Trenin returning to form as NHL’s top hitman
Mats Zuccarello’s impact hard to miss at Wild surge continues
Wally is a Wall, as Wild blank Jets
After injury delay, Nico Sturm excited for his second Wild debut
Surging Wild dominate Pittsburgh start to finish
