Ryan Johnston (born February 14, 1992) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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 l ...

currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. He has previously played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

Playing career

Born in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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. After his entry-level contract with the Canadiens having played in 10 games for 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, also known as Luleå Hockey, is a professional 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 ...

, 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 after 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 National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

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 p ...

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 by 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 are owned by Maple Leaf 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, an affiliate of the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

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

Personal life

Johnston's sister

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

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. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

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. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

and the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Ryan 1992 births Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey players HC Lugano players HPK players Ice hockey people from Greater Sudbury Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players Iserlohn Roosters players Living people Luleå HF players Montreal Canadiens players Mora IK players St. John's IceCaps players San Diego Gulls (AHL) players Undrafted National Hockey League players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland