Johansen: Consistency, production issues have 'chewed me up this year'

Nashville Predators forward Ryan Johansen is taking full responsibility for his inconsistent play this season and knows he needs to be better for his team to succeed.

With my role on this team and the standard I hold myself to, I need to outperform No. 1 centers on a night-by-night basis," Johansen said, according to The Athletic's Joe Rexrode.

"I need to show my teammates every night, 'Hey, I've got this guy.' I've got to be one of our horses every night. And when that's not happening, it's frustrating. I'll be honest, it has chewed me up this year."

Johansen ranked fifth in team scoring when the league suspended play - despite owning the Predators' highest annual cap hit (alongside Matt Duchene) at $8 million. The 27-year-old pivot is on pace for just 43 points over 82 games, which would mark his lowest full-season total since his rookie campaign in 2011-12.

"This is an experience I haven't had since I was a young player, and it ate me up," he said. "You've got teammates counting on you, you've got this big contract, and you're just trying to find it."

Predators general manager David Poile wasn't shy in acknowledging the insufficient contributions of one of his top-paid players.

"He's got to play better," Poile said. "He's got to find a way to be more impactful. He's got to produce more. I expect more and he expects more from himself."

Nashville has played at a 41-win pace in 2019-20 after winning the Central Division in each of the last two campaigns with 47 and 53 victories, respectively. The Predators occupy the Western Conference's final wild-card berth despite their underwhelming season thus far.

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