Erik Johnson Signs Long-term Deal
Erik Johnson first arrived in Denver through a trade in 2011 along with Jay McClement and a conditional first-round pick. The trade upset many Avs fans because it sent two fan favorites in Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk to St. Louis in return for, what at the time was, an underachieving Johnson. Over the past four years Johnson began to live up to his potential and grow in to the player he was expected to be. By the end of the 2014-15 season Johnson had played in 250 games in an Avalanche sweater and the Avs front office spent the offseason working on a deal. On September 22, during a preseason meeting with the Anaheim Ducks, it was announced the Avalanche had reached a deal with the 27-year-old from Bloomington, Minn. Erik Johnson now has the longest-termed contract on the team, keeping him under contract with the Avalanche until the end of the 2022-23 season. Johnson assured his confidence in the team by talking about what it will be like when his contract expires as a 35-year-old saying, “I remember breaking in as a 19-year-old and playing with Keith Tkachuk, who was that age and I thought he was so old. I am sure when I am that age, after we finish the contract here, after we have won a few Stanley Cups, there is going to be some young 18-year-old looking at me and saying, ‘look at that old guy.’”
