In case you missed it, we’ll be doing player tracking once again in the NCAA for Ryan Johnson and Owen Power this season. Both players are important pieces of Big 10 powerhouse hockey clubs and will be interesting to compare throughout the season.

Johnson is in his third season with the Minnesota Gophers. They’re off to a 3-1 start and have a big weekend series starting tonight with fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth. The Gophers come into the weekend as the fourth-ranked team in the nation.

The Minnesota blue line is stacked once again with high-end prospects such as Jackson LaCombe (Anaheim Ducks), Brock Faber (Los Angeles Kings), and Johnson. Mike Koster is also a fifth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Johnson has primarily played with Faber as his defensive partner over the past two seasons. The two have chemistry and feed off of each other with a similar playing style.

On-ice Shot Share and Quality

Due to their talent, the Gophers are a team that controls possession and leads the way in shot quality on most nights. You’ll see below in the shot share chart at 5 on 5 that almost all of the defenders are carrying strong shot share numbers through four games.

Johnson, however, is the top defenseman on the team in high-danger chances splits through the first four games of the season.

This isn’t the normal high-danger chance that you’re used to seeing in the NHL based on strictly shot location. I use my system in tracking this data point that also takes into account factors such as puck movement and rebounds. It provides a little more than your standard location-based shot analysis.

Primary Shot Contributions

One area of Johnson’s game that we saw some significant growth from his freshman season to his sophomore year of 2021, is his ability to impact the game offensively. He has carried that over into this season. He’s never going to be a big point produced, but he has picked up one goal and one assist in the first four games.

Even more impressive, is he has the best numbers on the blue line in primary shot contributions through the first two weeks of the season.

He leads all Minnesota defensemen in shot attempts and primary shot assists at 5 on 5. Now, it should be noted that some of these shot attempts are low quality. The University of Minnesota plays on an Olympic-sized rink and as a result, there’s more room for defenders to get off shots at the point.

The good news is that not all 11 attempts are not low percentage point shots. He does get below the face off dots consistently and his first goal of the season is an example of how he can find the open spaces in the defense.

Fun fact: In the last 2 games at 3M Arena at Mariucci, Ryan Johnson has scored a goal pic.twitter.com/V5Qd9NxK6S

— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) October 9, 2021

Zone Exits

Lastly, we’ll take a look at zone exits. The Gophers have some really strong puck-moving defenders that feed their speed towards. Johnson is one of the best on the team in exiting the zone with possession.

As I said, Johnson is off to a good start this season. He continues to be an intriguing prospect to consider for the Sabres blue line down the road. This weekend will be another strong test against a top opponent.

Aaron Huglen

I quickly wanted to give an update on Sabres prospect Aaron Huglen. He’s playing in his first season with the Gophers. The freshman forward started slow but picked up his game in the weekend series with St. Cloud State. He was more noticeable and picked up his first NCAA goal.

Freshman forward Aaron Huglen scored his first collegiate goal last night as No. 4 Minnesota earned a 4-3 OT victory over No. 2 St. Cloud State. pic.twitter.com/iNexcbrH3u

— Kris Baker (@SabresProspects) October 17, 2021

He was moved from the wing to center last weekend and that appeared to jump-start his game. He was more involved at both ends of the ice against a good opponent.

While I won’t be tracking data for Huglen like I am for Johnson, I’ll be keeping an eye on him throughout the season. I’ve started collecting some data on the side for him throughout the game that I should be able to share with more of sample size in the coming weeks.

Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports