On Monday, the Washington Capitals traded to acquire forward Marcus Johansson from the Seattle Kraken. Johansson, 31, is a professional Swedish hockey player who has played for 12 seasons. A little-known fact: Many of those seasons were played right here in Washington for the Capitals.
If you are one of the people for whom that fact is news, here’s a brief explainer on who exactly Marcus Johansson is.
Once and Future Capital
Did you know? Marcus Johansson was actually drafted by the Capitals in 2009. He played seven seasons for the club, scoring 102 goals and 290 points in 501 games. There are more than 250 articles on RMNB with the Marcus Johansson tag. We have tweeted about him many times.
Since leaving Washington in the summer of 2017, Johansson has been a journeyman, playing short stints for New Jersey, Boston, Buffalo, Minnesota, and Seattle.
But rejoining the Capitals now isn’t totally unexpected as this is not the first time the Capitals scrolled through their old contacts to consider texting an ex. The team was linked with Johansson twice in 2019, first before the trade deadline, then again in the offseason.
Nicknames
Unlike most NHL players, Johansson sometimes answers to an informal alias. Below is a guide as to which nicknames are allowed and which ones are not.
This is not up for debate. This is not Not Up For Debate, but this is not up for debate.
Pronunciation Guide
Breaking news. It’s pronounced yoh-HAHN-suhn.
Joe Beninati asked Marcus Johansson how to pronounce his name. It's now YO-hansson, not JO-hansson
— JJ Regan (@JJRegan41) March 22, 2022
This is, of course, nonsense. Johansson has been frequently and arbitrarily changing the pronunciation of his last name for years as part of an ongoing psyop. Here’s Johansson in 2015 pronouncing it with a hard J.
On the way to #RockTheRed Carpet with @mjohansson90 and @andreburakovsky! pic.twitter.com/Fl3RII4J1K
— Monumental Sports Network (@MonSportsNet) October 10, 2015
We will respect his wishes, but deep down we all know he’s messing with us.
On Bikes
Johansson is a renowned cyclist, having been photographed biking at least twice, eight years ago.
There is a video of the event.
This was a very big deal to us at one time. There once was an RMNB t-shirt commemorating this important event. Maybe one day there will be another.
Seldom Injured
Like all mortals, Johansson is not immune to the thousand natural shocks that Flesh is heir to. Here’s an incomplete (!) history of Johansson’s injuries, culled from various sources.
| Date | Injury |
|---|---|
| Mar 2013 | Concussion |
| Jan 2016 | Upper-body injury |
| Oct 2016 | Leg injury |
| May 2017 | Broken finger |
| Oct 2017 | Lower-body injury |
| Nov 2017 | Concussion |
| Dec 2017 | Ankle |
| Jan 2018 | Concussion |
| Dec 2018 | Upper-body injury |
| Mar 2019 | Upper-body injury |
| Apr 2019 | Illness |
| Nov 2019 | Upper-body injury |
| Feb 2020 | Illness |
| Jan 2021 | Upper-body injury |
| Feb 2021 | COVID |
| Feb 2021 | Upper-body injury |
| May 2021 | Upper-body injury |
| May 2021 | Arm |
| Oct 2021 | Lower-body injury |
Oh.
A really fun time in Washington was when Johansson kept hurting himself in collisions with teammates. It happened with Brouwer, it happened with Ovechkin, and it happed with Ovechkin three months after that. Johansson’s and his teammates’ talent for running into each other really damaged Ian’s calm. Just bringing this up is probably going to trigger a rant.
Maybe this will calm him down: the time Johansson high-sticked Barry Trotz.
Leisure
Johansson is a fashionista. Here’s him sporting some couture during his bachelor party in 2018.
View this post on Instagram
He himself shared that photo, so you’re not allowed to get mad at us for reposting it.
Johansson is an accomplished dancer.
Video: @taytayru
Johansson is a golfer. He says he got a hole-in-one once and then shared a picture of himself smiling as if that’s evidence that he actually did it. Yeah okay. Whatever, Marcus.
One time in Sweden, Johansson was interviewed by a reporter who was being fed questions by Nicklas Backstrom. Hence this question was asked:
Is it hard to be in the shadow of [Nicklas Backstrom]?
People sleep on Backstrom’s potential for chaotic evil.
On the Ice Actually
Not really important, but in the interest of completion.
Marcus isn’t great at direct offense (shooting, scoring, celebrating), but his skillset can help with the things needed for offense. He was a crucial part of Washington’s power-play success — like seven years ago, and looks to slot in on the team’s second unit this time around. He’s defensively responsible and still quite talented at puck-carrying, though he’s no longer at the elite level he was at maybe three years ago.
We expect Johansson to skate with the top line during five-on-five play. That’s the role with which he had the most success in the past.
Okay that’s everything. There is literally nothing else to know.
Anyway, I love Marcus Johansson. You do too, unless you’re the kind of person who uses the word soft as an insult. Over here we like our boys soft. And anyway, he looks great in a Capitals uniform.
Headline photo: Amanda Bowen/RMNB
