The relationship between Ryan Johansen and coach John Tortorella has been shaky at best and it doesn’t look like that’ll be changing anytime soon.
Although nothing has been confirmed by the Blue Jackets as of yet, it looks like Johansen could be watching tonight’s game, against Arizona, from the press box.
On Thursday’s morning, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger tweeted this bit of information on Johansen’s status for tonight’s game:
As @Aportzline suggests in the Dispatch, wouldn't be surprise if Ryan Johansen is a healthy scratch tonight. Likely pattern.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 17, 2015
Tortorella has already made veterans Fedor Tyutin and Scott Hartnell healthy scratches earlier this season, so we know he’s not shy about doing that (or much else for that matter).
Johansen was benched in the third period of Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the Dallas Stars and after the game, this is all Tortorella would say: “That was the coach’s decision. No explanation. I just didn’t play him.”
The 23-year-old center is second on the team in scoring with 22 points in 31 games, but as beat reporter Aaron Portzline points out in The Dispatch, Johansen’s overall game hasn’t been great.
Things haven’t been boring in Columbus this year, that’s for sure.