This past week on Tuesday, former Los Angeles Kings longtime defenseman Jack Johnson announced his retirement from the NHL after spending nearly two decades in the league in the past 19 seasons.
Ex-Los Angeles Kings and Blue Jackets veteran defenseman Jack Johnson retires from the league
This news comes as the Vancouver Canucks and general manager Patrik Allvin hired Johnson as a professional scout for the organization early this year.
Johnson spent this past preseason last fall for the 2025-26 campaign playing with the Minnesota Wild on a professional tryout agreement deal.
Before playing for the Wild on a PTO deal this past fall in the preseason a few months ago, Johnson last played for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the East in the Metropolitan Division in the 2024-25 regular season this past year.
The 38-year-old defenseman Johnson spent 19 seasons playing in the league in the NHL (since the 2006-07 season). He played for the Blue Jackets, Kings, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and New York Rangers over 19 seasons.
Johnson registered 77 goals, 265 assists, and 342 total points in 1,228 games played in his career in the league in the NHL over nearly two decades.
He was selected third overall in the first round in the 2005 NHL Draft Lottery by the Carolina Hurricanes. Before he made his debut in the NHL ahead of the 2006-07 season, he was traded by the Hurricanes with forward Oleg Tverdovsky to the Kings in exchange for defenseman Tim Gleason and center Eric Belanger.
A native of Indiana, Johnson played a couple of seasons for the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA before making his NHL debut with the Kings in LA in the 2006-07 season. He played six seasons with the Kings in the West, registering 30 goals, 94 assists, and 124 total points in 343 regular season games played (from the 2006-07 season to the 2011-12 season).
Johnson was traded by the Kings amid the 2011-12 regular season in the West to the Blue Jackets in Columbus for forward Jeff Carter.