Lightning's Tyler Johnson Represents a Changing Mindset of How Talent Is Evaluated in the NHL

When building a club, previous archaic thinking suggested you ought to value size more than skill, a notion which is now being flipped on its head. While size shouldn't be ignored, it isn't everything in the new NHL. Even Brian Burke, the man who kept Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren employed long past their expiry date, and was a vocal proponent of "pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence," has softened his stance on smaller skilled players. Now, players like 5-foot-8 centre Tyler Johnson are more valued than ever.

The 24-year-old's ascent to the NHL was an unlikely one. Johnson put up underwhelming numbers with the Spokane Chiefs in his draft year and was an afterthought by many teams. He failed to put up standout numbers and didn't posses the brutish attributes teams were looking for. For all intents and purposes, he was a non-prospect.

As small as Johnson's chances of making the NHL were, he kept improving with Spokane, upping his goal totals by at least 10 every season, including a team-high 54 in his final year. NHL clubs were finally starting to take notice.

"Every year, my size comes up," he admitted back in 2010, while attending Minnesota's training camp. "When I started with the Chiefs, many questioned whether I could play at my size. I feel that I have proved the critics wrong. I try to play bigger than I really am by going in the corners and getting physical, I'm not scared of bigger players."

Johnson signed his first entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011. He'd score 30-plus goals in both of the following AHL seasons before notching 24 in his first full season with Tampa Bay, finishing the year as a nominee for the league's top rookie award. This season he took an even bigger step forward, scoring at almost a point-per-game clip to record a team-high-tying 72 points, while placing second on the club with 29 goals.

The Washington native's draft eligible comparisons show just how unlikely his path to success was.

Johnson has found a second gear in the playoffs. He's already potted four game-winners, on his way to scoring a league-high 12 goals (tied for a Lightning playoff record), including a monster performance versus the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals where he scored a hat trick in the game's first 28 minutes.

If Johnson continues his torrid pace, he has an outside chance to surpass Jari Kurri and Reggie Leach's record for most goals scored (19) in a single postseason. Even if he doesn't get his name in the NHL record books, he's been a machine for the Lightning.

Johnson plays almost exclusively with 2011 draftees Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov, forming a line known as the "Triplets." The trio combined for 73 goals in the regular season and the strong possession games of Johnson's linemates has allowed him to focus more on his offence.

With skill in the forefront of player evaluation, it's more likely Johnson would be considered a better prospect in today's world opposed to when he went undrafted—although his late peak might have kept him in the same draft range.

Kyle Dubas, assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, recently talked about how you can't be picky about drafting because of size.

"Here's the way I look at it—right now, we aren't good enough to be picky about smaller players," he said. "We need as many elite players as we can. If we get into the playoffs and are too small, or overwhelmed, it's easier to trade small for size than draft for size and trade for skill."

Johnson has been Tampa's best goal scorer on an already stacked roster. While his success isn't sustainable at its current rate—he's shooting more than 10-percent higher in the playoffs than his career shooting percentage—he's already delivered much more than he was supposed to. It's something he's been doing his entire career.