While Johnston may be in and out of the lineup throughout the season, he figures to slot into the fourth line, adding a body to a group that includes players like Alexey Toropchenko, Nathan Walker, Jack Finley, Otto Stenberg and perhaps even Pius Suter.
Johnston only played five of Anaheim’s 12 playoff games in the spring and has averaged 8:52 of ice time per game for his NHL career.
“The roster allows us to have an identity, but also supplies the coaching staff different options, game to game,” Steen said. “We could have different looks, but still with the same identity. We did want to build a little bit more of the physicality and size, and weight, too.”
Making it official
The Blues announced their signing of forward Jonatan Berggren on Wednesday, one day after it was reported by ESPN that the two sides agreed to a new deal. Berggren’s contract is for one year at $2 million.
On Monday, the Blues did not extend a qualifying offer to Berggren, which would have been $1.85 million and retained his rights as a restricted free agent. Instead, by not offering him a qualifying offer, they allowed him the opportunity to enter unrestricted free agency Wednesday, and the Blues avoided possible arbitration with Berggren.
New Blues general manager Alexander Steen was asked Tuesday about Berggren.
“He’s got high offensive vision,” Steen said. “I enjoy watching him play. He has a unique ability: You can almost see when he sees the pass, when it’s about to open up. Then he presents it at the right time with the right weight, with the minimum amount of complication to it. It goes fast. He picks them up fast. If he finds the offensive play to be a little on the risky side, he knows the time and score, and he’ll revert to something else. He’s not a big risk guy. He does have that offensive creativity.