The next Ovechkin or the next Pastrnak? Wyatt Johnston is elite. But how elite?

Or...is he something else?

Like being late to the hottest new roller coaster (am I the only adult that still loves these things?), there’s a long line of teams kicking themselves for missing on Wyatt Johnston in the 2021 draft. As silly and mostly pointless imagining parallel universes is, the draft makes it an easy exercise.

Sure, there are plenty of rebuilding teams who wish they had taken him, like Calgary and Buffalo (they took Matt Coronato and Isak Rosen instead, respectively). But how much does Johnston change L.A.’s future if they draft Johnston? Johnston scored 24 goals the year before they traded for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Imagine that team with Johnston down the middle and the pieces they used to trade for PLD still intact. The Kings would be my cup favorites in that world. One of the strongest defensive teams for the past several years now led by a top six of Kopitar, Byfield, Kempe, Johnston, Fiala, and Vilardi?

Does Edmonton already have a Stanley Cup if Johnston was in the Cup Finals versus Florida instead of Adam Henrique because they drafted him instead of Xavier Bourgault, who currently has 22 points in 56 AHL games? Does not needing offensive depth keep them away from their lust for veteran depth that put them in a position to lose Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg? What does Johnston look like on Connor McDavid’s wing? Or next to Leon Draisaitl for that matter? It’s a scary thought — that Johnston could be even better.

Obviously, we could do this all day, and it’s not why anyone is here. Johnston plays for Dallas, which means we don’t have to engage with cheesy what-ifs. With back-to-back 30-goal seasons, the Stars don’t have to imagine what Johnston would look like behind Roope Hintz and Matt Duchene. They have him. And he’s making history.

A piece I always like to plug here is the one that hasn’t changed. Johnston is a player of off-puck talents. His brilliance is in identifying the plays that are not there: the plays that have yet to develop. I’ll go back into the film room at some point, but this feels like the “definitive” analysis (pompous as that sounds) when it comes to the tale of the tape.

For the playoffs, Johnston projects to be Dallas’ most important forward. Yes even with Mikko Rantanen on the roster. Perhaps you don’t remember his playoff performance, which was nuts? And yes, Rantanen has ridiculous playoff numbers. But Johnston is just getting started. And he’s already ahead of the pack. More than that, his responsibility is already at a veteran’s level, which we’ll explore.

So what can we say is the bottom line when all is said and done? Thankfully, we have an idea. After all, not many players can score 30 goals at a young age. Even fewer can score 30 in back to back years. What do those players tell us about Johnston’s future now that he’s in such an exclusive club?