The boss of Bruins placed Tyler Johnson on unconditional waivers for contract termination. So both sides are agreeing that they're walking away. And this is the same Tyler Johnson who... And this guy came out of nowhere and once had 23 points in 26 playoff games for the Tampa Bay Lightning when they lost in the finals. He was so good. He was so good. Triplets. Him, Palat, and Kutra. And then there were injuries. And in the playoffs, when Tampa won their two cups in 1920, in 2021, he both times was more of a role player. He wasn't the guy he was five years previous, but five years is a long time in the NHL.
Name's still in the cup.
He's 5'8. He's 34. His point production is going down.
He got the same neck surgery as Jack Eichel.
He got the same neck surgery as Jack Eichel. Wow.
A lot of people will forget that.
I wonder if somebody takes a flyer on this guy and just gives it a shot. Free centerman with experience.
I was confused. He's either retiring, which I don't know.
I don't think he is. No, I think he's going to play again. Or he's going to want to.
Why not? Okay, he's going on waivers, but it's for the purpose of a contract buyout. Is that to try to prevent... If you just put him on regular waivers, I assume a team claims him, right?
No, he's on waivers. They had the opportunity to claim him. He was put on waivers, and then if he gets through waivers, they're going to terminate his contract. Mutually. They're letting him go so that he doesn't get sent down to Providence and he's stuck down there.
Oh, that's why. Listen, I'm not going to the minors.
Well, they don't want him. What's the point?
They don't need him. What do you need a 34-year-old? Because I was trying to figure I'm like, Wait a second.
It's Tyler Johnson, though. He's not that bad.
Yeah, he got squeezed out of the lineup. He's not useful to the Bruins right now.
But he could definitely play in the league.
I don't know. I don't know if he has a spot in the league. That's the thing. He wasn't able to stick in the Bruins lineup, so they said, We don't need you anymore. He said, Okay, I'm just going to go my way instead of going down the AHL. We'll see if one of the other 31 teams thinks he's good enough for another shot. But he struggled to get a job this summer. He didn't sign anywhere for a reason. The Bruins gave him a shot. Then he got squeezed out of the lineup. He got squeezed out of the power play. He wasn't effective for the Bruins at all. Then now they're like, Okay, we don't need you. You're old. We're not going to send you down. Go play somewhere, wherever you want. We're done.
Here's what's tricky to figure out. When a team struggles to find a contract, it's not necessarily that 32 teams didn't want them or 31 teams didn't want him. There's a a little bit of he didn't want them going on. Sometimes. I'm not saying this is the case with Tyler Johnson, but it's like, Oh, man, no one wants me. And then the sabers go, We want you. And, Oh, man, no one wants me. You just ignore them, right? But maybe at this point, December is not June. It's not July. It's a different month entirely for a lot of reasons. So maybe he'd be willing to I think he'd be willing to entertain anything. He'd be willing to entertain a situation today that he wasn't willing to entertain in the summer is what I'm saying.
If you remember, he joined the Bruins with the PTO. It seems like Oliver Wallstrom, his emergence with the Bruins is the reason, last straw of the lineup where it's like, Okay, we really don't need you. I don't know if he's going to land anywhere. If it got to the point where he needed a PTO, and then he gets on the PTO team and they don't need him, by December. Maybe somebody takes a chance based on injuries come January, but we'll see.
If this is it, and I hope it's not, but if this is it, what a crazy career. First of all, Championship with the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL, Championship with the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL, two Cups with Tampa, 747 games, 433 points, and 116 Stanley Cup playoff games, 65 career Stanley Cup playoff points. He has playoff runs of 26, 17, 17, 25, and 23 games. What a player, man, for an undrafted guy, an undrafted 5'8, 91 pound guy. Great career. Unreal career. Never scored 30 goals, which I'm shocked by. He scored 29 twice, which is just not fair. And during that, And during that cup run in 2015, where they fell short to Chicago, 13 goals in 26 games, 23 points. He was unbelievable.
Steve Dangle, Adam Wylde and Jesse Blake discuss the Boston Bruins decision to terminate the contract of Tyler Johnson.