When Marcus Johansson showed up at Olympic Hills Golf Club in Eden Prairie last year to play a round, his Minnesota Wild teammates had no idea what they were in for.
Sure, Johansson, 35, is known as a top golfer among NHLers, his handicap a plus-1. But the smooth-skating Swede showed up having not swung a club in a few months, and he rented clubs, according to Vinni Lettieri. The foursome included club members Lettieri, Matt Boldy, Matt Dumba and Johansson. Johansson’s front nine wasn’t much to brag about, at least for most of us, but he got on a tear on the back nine.
At one point, Johansson birdied six straight holes to finish with a 69, two off his best round.
“It was absolutely unheard of,” Lettieri said. “If you birdie 6-7 holes in a row anywhere, it’s out of this world, but at Olympic, it was like, ‘Holy Christ.’”
Johansson’s biggest passion besides hockey and his family is golf, a sport he’s gotten into more in the past several years.
“His swing is like a Wii character — it’s just perfect,” Lettieri said. “It’s just perfect up and back, perfect plane, effortless. It’s like ‘JoJo’ entering the zone on a power play. He just coasts and just gets there. It’s honestly his hockey game. He’s that skilled and rides right on his edges and goes right through people all day.”
“JoJo,” Boldy says, “Is good at pretty much everything.”
And, it turns out, Johansson has plenty of hockey left.
Marcus Johansson is set to play in the 1,000th game of his NHL career when the #mnwild hosts Calgary tomorrow night.
He enters the game with an eight-game point streak (5-5=10), a career-long run that is also tied for the longest active streak in the NHL.
Per #NHLStats, he… pic.twitter.com/Ats9EAfcma
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) November 8, 2025
Johansson will appear in his 1,000th NHL game Sunday against the Calgary Flames, and he just so happens to be playing some of the best hockey of his career. He’s coming off a career-long eight-game points streak (five goals, five assists) with 14 points in 16 games. Johansson re-signing at one year, $800,000 over the summer didn’t make many waves, and even the veteran winger was expecting to play any role up and down the lineup. Now he’s one of the league’s best bargains.
Where would the struggling Wild be without him?
“He’s been awesome,” Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said. “Honestly, he’s been one of our, maybe our most consistent performer. He’s not played poorly yet this season. He voiced his desire to play in Minnesota again and did what it took to stay here. He’s been great.
“It looks like he’s having fun.”
Johansson is in a very good place. He went into last offseason with the chance to return home and play for a Swedish pro team like Färjestad, where his older brother Martin had played for years. But Johansson’s “No. 1 priority” was to remain in Minnesota. The longtime former Washington Capital has moved around enough in his career, bouncing from five different teams over a three-season span (2018-22). His wife, Amelia, likes it here, and so do their two daughters, Mia, 9, and Elize, 5.
“It’s not about money, it’s not about anything else,” Johansson said. “I wanted to play here and have another crack at it. I want to be somewhere where I know my family likes it and kids like their schools. Great team, great city to play in.
“It was a no-brainer.”
Johansson is happy his daughters and his wife, whom he met 16 years ago in Sweden, will be able to see his milestone moment celebrated by the Wild at Grand Casino Arena before Tuesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks. Johansson said his brother, Martin, an idol of his, should be able to make it, too. Johansson said he grew up wanting to be like Martin, 38, and Swedish superstar Peter Forsberg. The NHL was on his mind, of course.
“But I don’t know if you thought it was possible,” Johansson said. “I dreamt of playing in Färjestad back home, and for sure the NHL. But I don’t think you saw it as a realistic dream.
“It’s kind of wild.”
Johansson, who felt he was better at soccer than hockey until he made the full-time switch at age 12, said he didn’t start to think the NHL was in the cards until he played some junior tournaments for the Swedish national team. “There were scouts watching and you heard all of that and was like, ‘Oh,’” he said. “But I don’t think it was until I got drafted that it was like, ‘OK, this might happen.’”
Johansson, picked in the first round (24th overall) by the Capitals in 2009, spent his first seven years in Washington. He called it their “second home.” He still has a photo of his first NHL goal, scored on Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, sliding a shot through an extremely tiny hole between Thomas’ skate and the post.
Johansson enjoyed his time playing with Alex Ovechkin, good friend Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson. He was part of the core that would eventually go on to win the Stanley Cup, even though he wasn’t there for it, as the cap-strapped Capitals dealt Johansson to the New Jersey Devils the summer of 2017.
“It’s kind of where I grew up a little bit,” Johansson said. “We loved that place, loved that team. Great players to have as mentors. It was very special for us, something we’ll always remember.”
Johansson reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Bruins in 2019 after being a deadline addition. That was after Johansson played parts of two seasons with coach John Hynes, who has a unique perspective on coaching him twice in different stages of his career. What’s stood out to Hynes in Johansson is his skating ability, how much he understands playing both sides of the puck, which is why “you feel very comfortable (with him) in any situation.”
“The thing that’s unique about Johansson is he can play with a lot of different style of players,” Hynes said. “He can play with some high-end thinkers offensively, but he can also play with some guys that are north-south, maybe they simplify their game a little more. He’s such a versatile guy.”
Johansson’s first taste of hockey in Minnesota came when he was acquired in the Eric Staal trade in September 2020. Johansson returned at the 2023 deadline and didn’t want last season to be the end. So while Johansson initially wanted a two-year deal last offseason, Guerin laid it out for him, including that they didn’t have much money to allocate.
“I just want to be in Minnesota,” Johansson told Guerin.
Johansson said he didn’t care what spot in the lineup he played in, and there were some younger prospects in camp eager to jump in, from Liam Ohgren and Danila Yurov to Hunter Haight. But with Mats Zuccarello sidelined for the first month of the season, it’s been Johansson who has been the reliable staple in the top six, providing much-needed secondary scoring. Johansson’s six goals and 13 points trail only Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov on the team.
“He’s just so good, such a good skater,” Boldy said. “He’s very offensively-minded. A very gifted player, he’s played forever. He’s gone through some tough times. For him to get (1,000 games) is pretty special. Everyone is super, super excited.”
“It’s a huge milestone,” said Guerin, who played in 1,263 career NHL games. “Longevity in your career means you did something right. Jojo has done a lot of right in this game. He’s battled through a lot of adversity with injuries, especially the concussions. There’s a lot of adversity you have to fight through to get there. It’s never smooth sailing. So 1,000 games is an amazing milestone.”
Johansson didn’t want to talk about the 1,000 leading up, not wanting to jinx it, but said, “It’s exciting, not something everybody gets to do. So I’m proud of it, for sure.” He said he isn’t sure if this will be his last year or not, planning to take it day by day. Johansson is enjoying spending time with his daughters, who are into dance, gymnastics, swimming and soccer. “No hockey yet,” he said, smiling.
Johansson hasn’t thought about what he wants to do after his playing career is over. He knows playing overseas for his hometown team is always an option at some point, but there’s some unfinished business in the NHL — including the Stanley Cup.
“I feel like I’m still good enough to play here,” Johansson said. “And I feel I can play as good of hockey as I ever have. I feel like I have more in me.”