Wyatt Henry Johnston (born May 14, 2003) is a Canadian 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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who plays for the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

of 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). Johnston was selected in the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the Stars with the 23rd overall pick.

Playing career

Junior

Johnston finished his career with the Toronto Marlboros in the GTHL in 2018–19. He put up 48 goals and 46 assists for 94 points during his final year with the team. He was drafted sixth overall by the

Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975� ...

during the 2019 OHL Priority Selection draft. In his rookie season in 2019–20, Johnston scored his first OHL goal on September 21, 2019 against the

Peterborough Petes The Peterborough Petes are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team has played at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, since 1956, and is the oldest continuously operating team in the league. ...

in a 9–6 victory. Johnston went on to score 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in 53 games in his rookie year before the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In returning to the Windsor Spitfires for the 2021–22 season, Johnston led the league and the entire CHL in scoring in the regular season with 124 points in 68 regular season games. He also led the OHL in playoff points, registering 41 through 25 games, before losing in the finals in a game 7 defeat to the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) that began to play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the Bulldogs played home games at FirstOntario Centre. They were purc ...

Dallas Stars

Johnston was drafted 23rd overall in the first round by the

during the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Stars on September 28, 2021. He put up 2 goals and 1 assist in the Dallas Stars Prospects Tournament. Johnston made his NHL debut in the Stars' first game of the season on October 13, 2022, against the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

. He became the first teenager to play for the Stars since

Miro Heiskanen Miro Heiskanen (born 18 July 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ranked in the top ten eligible European skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ...

in 2018 and the first North American teenager to do so since 1994 (

Jamie Langenbrunner Jamie Craig Langenbrunner (; born July 24, 1975) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He is a member of the 1998–99 Dallas Stars season, 1998–99 Dallas Stars and 2002–03 New Jersey Devils season, 2002–03 New Jersey Devil ...

and

Todd Harvey Todd Douglas Ross Harvey (born February 17, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward and current director of amateur scouting for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). During his playing career, he played for ...

). Johnston scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game against

Juuse Saros Juuse Saros (born 19 April 1995), nicknamed "Juice", is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Saros was selected by the Predators in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 2 ...

. On March 4, 2023, Johnston broke the record for most goals by a teenager in Stars' history when he scored his 15th goal of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

(and his career) against the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

. Johnston finished the season with 24 goals and 17 assists for 41 points in 82 games. On March 5, 2024, Johnston scored his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 7–6 win against the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

. On January 28, 2025, Johnston became the youngest player in franchise history to score a natural hat-trick in a game against Vega

Personal life

Johnston was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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 ...

on May 14, 2003, to Margot Fulcher and Chuck Johnston. He has two older siblings, Austin and Quinn. Growing up in Toronto, Wyatt attended Glenview Senior Public School for his middle school years. In high school, he attended

Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute is a semestered, public high school institution with over 1,267 students enrolled. The school is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches grades 9 through 12 and is operated and governed by the Toronto D ...

. During his rookie season with the Dallas Stars, Johnston lived in the house of teammate

Joe Pavelski Joseph James Pavelski (born July 11, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars. Pavelski attended the University of Wisconsin and ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Bold indicates led league

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Wyatt 2003 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey defencemen Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States NHL first-round draft picks Ice hockey people from Toronto Toronto Marlboros players Windsor Spitfires players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen