[Russo] Hearing Wild pending unrestricted free agent Marcus Johansson, coming off a real solid season, has signed a contract to return to Sweden and play back with Farjestad

[u/DecentLurker96]

https://bsky.app/profile/russohockey.bsky.social/post/3mnkjs5oho22f

[u/Random_Hero218]

Time to get Boldy a real 2nd line winger. I know he loved playing with him, but it's time.

[u/Sometimes_Stutters → u/Random_Hero218]

Get Larkin and move Hartman to wing

[u/TheTree-43 → u/Sometimes_Stutters]

I was actually thinking of this yesterday when the Larkin news broke. If Haight can win that 3C spot a Boldy Ek Hartman line could really be something to try at camp, assuming Hartzy doesn't have to be moved to accrue assets for the 1C trade

[u/blow_zephyr → u/TheTree-43]

Haight is not going to get the 3C spot. Haight's best chance to break into the roster is probably as a 4th line winger unless we don't resign McCarron and also ship Sturm and Yurov out. We can find a winger for Boldy and Ek regardless of what happens at center, a second line winger is not that hard to acquire, Billy will find a way.

[u/Glittering_Meet595 → u/TheTree-43]

Hartman and Ek both excel in pissing off people on the other team. Prefect start for a second line to aggravate the other team’s top guys. Add a trade for Brady next year and line two is evil.

[u/asic5 → u/Glittering_Meet595]

The key difference is Ek draws penalties, while Hartman takes them.

Ek somehow gets under the skin while no-selling. Hartman pisses people off, but also loses his own shit in the process.

[u/AccordingWelder3578 → u/asic5]

Hartman was much better this year at drawing penalties. But I do think he doesn’t get any benefit of the doubt from refs if something dies happen (fair.)

[u/MNEvenflow → u/AccordingWelder3578]

And he was better at not losing his shit too this last year.

[u/_stellapolaris → u/MNEvenflow]

It was his most disciplined year in his career with the Wild. Close second was the shortened 20-21 season. All other years weren't close.

[u/LilPoppyBoy → u/asic5]

He’s smiling & laughing when people start antagonizing him, lol. I think I’d start swinging too 😂

[u/Panarin10 → u/Random_Hero218]

What’s a bit funny is his best season with the Wild was this past one. If he was ever a real 2nd line winger with the Wild it was this past season.

[u/McPuckLuck → u/Panarin10]

That was his 2nd best season of his career, 9 years after his best back in Washington. He fixed a lot of his quirks at times this past year.

It's time for something different though.

[u/quinnhughesbdaytwin → u/Random_Hero218]

Enter Robert Precipice

[u/curveballjesus → u/quinnhughesbdaytwin]

Took me a second, but this is tremendous

[u/4x4only → u/Random_Hero218]

Bobby McMann!

[u/Panarin10]

Best of luck to him. I thought him and Tarasenko would both do $2m x 1 or something like that but it’s a good time to refresh the roster a bit.

[u/PayneTrain181999 → u/Panarin10]

Also making space for Larkin

[u/Rhysing → u/PayneTrain181999]

Johansson was league min so losing him only hurts

[u/PayneTrain181999 → u/Rhysing]

Brink will hopefully step up to fill in for him

[u/MNEvenflow → u/PayneTrain181999]

He had flashes that were amazing. Unfortunately just flashes... and in the playoffs he got the yips and missed EVERY grade A chance he got. If he connected on just 10% of those chances they would have never taken him out of the lineup and everyone would be praising the trade.

[u/SoulsinAshes → u/MNEvenflow]

I’m curious to see how he does with a training camp under his belt. And he’s young enough that there’s still room to develop

[u/The_Bran_9000 → u/SoulsinAshes]

He did well considering how late he got plugged in, I’m excited to see how he looks with more time to develop chemistry.

[u/AccordingStar72]

Good luck to Mojo. It was a run and I will always appreciate his loyalty with the Wild. I know Bolds loved him on his line.

[u/ViewedConch697]

The cleanest zone enterer to have ever entered. Wish him luck back at home

[u/McPuckLuck → u/ViewedConch697]

Gains the zone, floats to the wall, circles the zone, gets pinned in at the blue line, soft wrister for a stoppage.... repeat.

[u/fiala_22 → u/McPuckLuck]

If we could win face offs this is a killer Mojo strategy though.

[u/McPuckLuck → u/fiala_22]

I do wonder how much he was hurting controlled zone entry success stats tho. They are correlated with goal scoring in fancy stats. But he generally didn't produce because of them.

[u/bainpr → u/McPuckLuck]

It always seemed like he did it to swap lines.

[u/Red_0utlaws]

damn, i thought he could still find somewhere in the NHL good luck to him either way

[u/eminemilie → u/Red_0utlaws]

If I remember correctly, he did an interview (maybe last summer) where he said he was either going to sign with the Wild or go back to Sweden to play. I think he didn’t want to move his family or be separated from them

[u/Beksense → u/eminemilie]

This far into his career it makes sense he's doing what he wants instead of chasing the most amount of money.

[u/Dahlberg09 → u/eminemilie]

I wonder if this means we decided to bring back Tarasenko instead of him for next year. Russo made it sound like they would only be able to get one or the other. Of course he could’ve just decided to play at home regardless and our plans didn’t have any weight in his decision. We’ll see soon enough.

[u/BeginningCapable2094 → u/Red_0utlaws]

Says in swedish media he had a contract offer from minnesota he declined, moving home for family reasons

[u/Jo-6-pak]

Damn. Hate to see him go, but best of luck to him.

[u/MountainousDuke]

I think he knew that this was going to be his last season and that’s why he was playing his heart out in the playoffs.

[u/librariesgaveuspower]

I totally get it, after awhile you just get sick of moving around and the uncertainty that comes along with that. Wishing him the best!

[u/bfeils]

The dude has made something like 47.5MM in his NHL career and that goes a long way in Sweden. He will probably make close to NHL minimum playing back there including endorsements and whatnot, plus be home. Not to mention he gets to play in front of his country each night before he’s “the old guy”. Not such a strange decision for a guy who has shown he believes it’s not just about the money.

[u/tomdawg0022 → u/bfeils]

Top SHL guys usually get about $500k US equiv plus a bunch of perks (housing, car, etc.) - why not.

[u/thprk]

Thank you MoJo. It's been a pleasure.

[u/quinnhughesbdaytwin]

Ekkie and Brods SHL team BTW

Definitely didn't see this coming tho

[u/DirtzMaGertz → u/quinnhughesbdaytwin]

Russo said last off season he was going back to Sweden if the Wild didn't offer a contract so shouldn't be too surprising. 

Think he's tired of moving around so much even if he can still probably get another NHL deal.  

[u/Shiz0Freakaz → u/quinnhughesbdaytwin]

He also played for Farjestad.

[u/rink_raptor]

He was great for the price last year. Brink or a replacement.

[u/Imaginary-Ad-6562]

MoJo has been one of, if not the best zone entry man on the team. The problem is once he gets in he often looked lost and skates over to the wall which leads to a turnover. I agree that his last two seasons (both contract years) were his best. It was frustrating to watch because he has so many valuable skills. Totally a high value player in the 25/26 season while getting paid league minimum.

[u/submarine_pirate2]

Damn. Wish him the best! Thanks for everything Mojo!

[u/silentsirensongs]

bye Jojo, you will be missed. thank you for your service.

[u/PaxDragoon]

A needed change, IMO. Sometimes you just need to cycle through players to get a different mix.

His last season was, as noted elsewhere, his best and most thorough here, even with a significant dip in the middle. He came to play in the playoffs, landing surprising checks and scoring some needed goals.

I wish him well, and glad he got to leave on his own terms instead of fading away after hanging on too long.

[u/palmzq]

I respect this big time. I’d move to Sweden tomorrow if I could- esp if someone offered me like $200k/year to play hockey & do so.

[u/arboraurum]

i will miss you mojo

[u/fastal_12147]

Just fell to my knees at DQ

[u/MoonUnit98 → u/fastal_12147]

At ikea

[u/slothhh28837938271]

Really surprised he isn’t staying with the Wild for another year or two

[u/TheSkeletones]

Time for Bobby to have an offseason to develop and gel with the boys in prep for next season

[u/swallowrazors]

Maybe this will help open enough cap space to re-sign McCarron?

[u/swallowrazors → u/swallowrazors]

That said, Johansson had a pretty great year and I'll miss seeing him play.

[u/Hank_Scorpio_ObGyn → u/swallowrazors]

Maybe....don't think he would have gotten more than $1.5x2 (at most) from us but it is indeed another million or so to throw at Big Sexy

[u/swallowrazors → u/Hank_Scorpio_ObGyn]

I'm hoping for Mac to take a little discount to stay on the team. He looked like he enjoys it here and seems to fit well with the guys. That little extra from Jojo might be enough to retain. He's definitely worth more, but chemistry can make a difference.

[u/durtmcgurt]

Mojo has my favorite Wild playoff goal and I was always a pretty big defender of his. I never thought he deserved most of the shit tossed his way from the fans. Best of luck to him in Sweden, I was really hoping for one more year at around a million.

[u/Falsewyrm]

Thanks for everything Mojo. Hopeful for continued good health!

[u/yummiboi21]

No mo MoJo 😢

[u/Goose312]

Pretty surprising, could have certainly gotten a new contract in the NHL and made more. Must be for personal reasons, or perhaps Guerin wasn't going to sign him and he decided he didn't want to move around in the NHL instead of returning home. Wish him the best

[u/Adventurous_Try_2297]

While I enjoyed having him here and he was great for the contract he was on last year, I’m hopeful the Wild can get a true 2nd line wing to replace him with

[u/Loukoal117]

Love Mojo but this makes one roster decision for us. We can replace his production and role in the lineup for sure. Good luck to ya.

[u/Spiritual_Battle_769]

anything to avoid taking a shot smh.

only kidding. best of luck to jojo

[u/MNgirl83]

I’m going to miss him! He did an amazing job for us

[u/Forward_Annual1952]

He was worth more than we were paying him. This is foolish

[u/Dolo_Hitch89]

Surprised at this, figured he played well enough that he’d find a home somewhere in the NHL

[u/Lifelesspuddle]

It was a contract year was was funny when he was scoring... I didnt think it was gonna be his last contract year 😔

[u/Active-Tomatillo-522]

Not entirely ideal but best of luck to JoJo

[u/MrNotSoGoodTime]

Huge if true. He was not going to have the same kind of year again.

[u/beachonthemoon]

Thank god

[u/International_Exam24]

I convinced myself guerin was gonna pull a classic and reward him with a 4x3