What It Means:

This comes after Johansen was benched for the third period of Tuesday's game. He's had a difficult time earning favor with head coach John Tortorella and this might not be the end of that struggle. It is, however, a chance for Johansen to take a step back and hopefully come back stronger. It's unlikely that he'll stay out of the lineup for long, so we'll likely see what he does in response to the scratching on Saturday.

In 31 games this year, the 23-year-old Johansen has 22 points and a minus-6 plus/minus on the season. Our metrics currently project him to score 41 more points by the end of the season.