The Minnesota Wild announced on Monday the signing of defenseman Jack Johnson to a professional try out (PTO).

Johnson, 38, has played 19 seasons in the NHL and if he signs a contract with the Wild it will be his 20th season.

The 6-foot-1 defenseman brings loads of experience and has won the Stanley Cup before. He is a left-shot defender as well.

Minnesota traded left-shot defender Declan Chisholm to the Washington Capitals at the NHL Draft and let Jon Merrill leave for free agency.

Zeev Buium is expected to replace one of them and be an NHL regular this year. We also know that Jonas Brodin had off-season surgery and could miss the start of the season. 

In the AHL they have, Carson Lambos, Stevie Leskovar, Matt Kiersted, Ben Gleason and Jack Peart under contract as left-shot defenders.

Lambos, 22, was drafted in the first round of the 2021 draft and has been in the AHL the last two seasons. He recorded five goals and 19 points in 68 games for the Iowa Wild last year and was even called up to the Wild during the regular season.

He did not debut but is considered almost ready to be an NHLer. Wild General Manager Bill Guerin said they need some of their younger guys to step up and make impacts this season and Lambos is one of those guys.

No spot is guaranteed.

On the right-side, the Wild have Jared Spurgeon, Brock Faber, Zach Bogosian and David Jiricek. One of either Bogosian or Jiricek could play their off-sides to start the season but the Wild elected not to do that during the regular season when they had injuries.

Guerin has always talked about healthy competition and younger guys pushing for spots that older guys have. Johnson is 16 years older than Lambos and has played in 1,228 NHL games in his career.

The Wild also signed Kiersted who has played in 39 career NHL games over the last four seasons.

So, there will be some competition during training camp and there is nothing wrong with that. If Johnson is good and fits well with the Wild, then they can sign him to a contract. If not, there is no harm with the PTO.

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