Ryan Johnston (born February 14, 1992) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He has previously played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

Playing career

Born in Sudbury,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Johnston played three years of college hockey with the

Colgate Raiders The Colgate Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Colgate University. The teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, track and field and tennis. Men's sports include g ...

. In the summer of 2015, he signed a two-year two-way deal with the Canadiens and played the 2015–16 with Montreal's AHL affiliate, the

St. John's IceCaps The St. John's IceCaps were a professional ice hockey team based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. They were members of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team was originally aff ...

. After a string of injuries to Canadiens' defenceman, Johnston was called up and played his first NHL game on April 5, 2016. At the conclusion of his entry-level contract with the Canadiens having played in 10 games over a span of two seasons, Johnston left the Canadiens as an impending restricted free agent, agreeing to a two-year contract with Top Tier SHL club,

Luleå HF Luleå Hockeyförening is an ice hockey club from Luleå, Sweden. The club has been playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the top tier of ice hockey in Sweden, since the 1984–85 season. They are the northernmost team in the league and h ...

, on June 26, 2017. In the 2017–18 season, Johnston registered 2 goals and 11 points in 36 games on the blueline for Luleå. He was loaned at the conclusion of the season to playoff bound Swiss club,

HC Lugano Hockey Club Lugano, often abbreviated to HC Lugano or HCL, is a professional ice hockey club based in Lugano, Switzerland. The team competes in the National League (NL) and has won seven Swiss championships. History The founding of HC Lugano took ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

on February 28, 2018. Johnston enjoyed a successful post-season with Lugano, posting 10 points in just 17 games. On September 15, 2018, Johnston transferred his SHL contract to play with

Mora IK Mora IK (or Mora Ishockeyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Mora in northern Dalarna. After failing the 2019 SHL qualifiers, Mora has been relegated for play in the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. Mora has previously pla ...

for the 2018–19 season. Johnston responded with his new club in recording a career season, by posting 3 goals and 22 points in 50 regular season games. Despite posting 6 points in 5 SHL Kvalserien games, Johnston could not prevent Mora from returning to the Allsvenskan. As a free agent from Mora, Johnston returned to North America in securing a one-year AHL contract with the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies is owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

on July 18, 2019. After attending the Marlies training camp, Johnston began the 2019–20 season as a healthy scratch. Before making his debut with the Marlies, Johnston was traded to the San Diego Gulls, affiliate of the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

, for future considerations on October 31, 2019. Johnston at the conclusion of his contract with the Gulls, opted to return to Europe as a free agent. He belatedly agreed to join German outfit, the Iserlohn Roosters of the DEL, on December 18, 2020.

Personal

Johnston's sister

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

is a member of the

Canada women's national ice hockey team The Canadian women's national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada in women's hockey. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and participates in international competitions ...

and a two-time Olympic gold winner. Their uncle Mike Johnston was the head coach of the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

in the 2014–15 and part of the 2015–16 seasons and an assistant coach with the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

and the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Ryan 1992 births Canadian ice hockey defencemen Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey players HC Lugano players HPK players Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players Iserlohn Roosters players Living people Luleå HF players Montreal Canadiens players Mora IK players San Diego Gulls (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Greater Sudbury St. John's IceCaps players Undrafted National Hockey League players