2026-27 Player Profile: Wyatt Johnston

Name: Wyatt Johnston

Age: 23

Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario

Height/Weight: 6-1, 187

2025-26 Regular-season Stats: 45 goals, 41 assists, 86 points, 20:07 avg. TOI in 82 games

2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Stats: 4 goals, 2 assists, 6 points, 23:50 avg. TOI in 6 games

Contract: Entering second year of five-year deal that averages $8.4 million

Performance evaluation: In his fourth NHL season, Johnston made a nice jump up statistically, going from 33 goals among 71 points to 45 goals and 86 points. It was his third straight campaign posting new career-highs, which clearly illustrates a strong upward trajectory. A big part of that was his record-setting performance on the power play, and it really is worth noting how impressive those numbers were. Johnston finished with 27 power play goals to lead the NHL. Second-place was Pavel Dorofeyev in Vegas with 20. In addition, Johnston smashed the franchise record for power play goals in a season, which was 22 by Dino Ciccarelli in 1986-87 when the team was still in Minnesota. For perspective, Mike Modano held the “Dallas Stars” record at 18, set in 1993-94. To top it all off, he tied the second-most by any NHL player in a single season in the last 30 years. So, Johnston was on fire. A big part of that was the new coaching staff. Glen Gulutzan brought in a history of working with some of the best power play scorers in the league during his time with Edmonton, and assistant coach Neil Graham did a great job of creating a system that was difficult to defend. Johnston’s versatility was a big part of that. The 23-year-old averaged 20:07 in time on ice, slightly behind Jason Robertson (20:15) and Mikko Rantanen (20:11) for the most among Dallas forwards. He also played the second-most overtime minutes on the team, trailing only Miro Heiskanen. In the playoffs, Johnston had 4 goals (3 on the power play) among 6 points in six games. That was a nice bounce back from the 10 points he had in 18 playoff games the year before. Bottom line, it was yet another great step-up year at age 22.

Expectations for 2026-27: Johnston’s performance has created some high expectations, but he seems fine with that. Drafted 23rd overall in 2021, he has outscored every player in his draft class by 40-plus goals and 60-plus points. He has 263 points (134 goals, 129 assists) in 328 career games and has steadily improved in almost every category. He is a model of consistency, playing in all 82 games in each of his first four seasons and doing a good job to avoid scoring slumps. That said, he still can improve. Johnston was second-to-last on the team in plus/minus last season at minus-5 and was among the least successful faceoff men on the squad at 47.4 percent (Roope Hintz led the Stars at 59.1 percent). That’s a concern because Johnston took the most faceoffs at 844. If Justin Hryckowian (55.1 percent) can earn a spot on the top line with Johnston and Rantanen, that could provide a boost. As for plus-minus, Johnston is plus-17 for his career, so the hope for a rebound there seems logical. If you were to put on your head coach cap here in mid-July, it looks like Johnston will be the No. 1 center with Hintz centering the second line in the season ahead. Johnston and Rantanen have built some good chemistry, so the expectation is they will stick together. But if Dallas can’t sign Robertson to a new contract, whatever new players come in could shake things up. But Johnston seems to have a keen ability to adjust. His previous power play goal record was 11 (set in 2024-25), and the fact he broke so many records seems to indicate that this could very well be another special season. That said, the coaching staff is back and several key pieces like Heiskanen and Rantanen are returning healthy and well-rested, so he might be finding a place where he excels on a regular basis on the man advantage. And remember, he just turned 23 and still is taking steps forward in his career. He seems to be a player who focuses on improving his weaknesses, and that could allow him to take an even bigger step going forward. His numbers say he can be one of the top players in the NHL. His numbers say he might be the top center on this team. Mix in the fact that some believe he may be the top candidate to take over as captain when Jamie Benn retires, and there is a lot to like about where the young phenom is headed.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.