Erik Johnson didn’t hold back when the subject turned to trade requests around the NHL.
The former defenseman, who played 17 seasons and won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, used a Thursday, Nov. 12 appearance on ESPN to call out what he sees as a growing problem in the league.
“I can’t stand these guys halfway through their contracts that they signed in good faith with their team, now bailing ship and wanting to go for greener pastures,” Johnson said, per ESPN on X.
Johnson’s comments landed in the middle of a stretch filled with trade chatter involving some of the NHL’s biggest names. He pointed to a conversation he had with Dylan Larkin’s agent, Pat Brisson, who told him there was “a lot bubbling under the surface, behind the scenes that the public doesn’t know about.”
He also revisited one of the more notable trade situations from his own playing days: Matt Duchene’s exit from Colorado. Johnson said Duchene asked for a trade while the two were living together in 2016, and that he, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon later went to Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic and told him to get Duchene “out of here” because they felt he no longer wanted to be part of the solution in Colorado.
Duchene was eventually traded to the Ottawa Senators.
Johnson’s frustration lines up with a season already packed with movement and rumors. Connor Hellebuyck was traded from the Winnipeg Jets to the New Jersey Devils earlier this season.
Dylan Larkin, a former Detroit Red Wings captain, is still sitting out after asking for a trade. Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov also requested a move a couple of weeks ago.
And this week, speculation around Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov has picked up, even though both the player and the team have denied it.
Now working as an analyst for ESPN, Johnson made it clear where he stands: players should honor the contracts they sign.
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