Quoting: MadmanFromMadison
Johnson literally cleared waivers, no one was taking him for free. Also he is damn near 30 and signed for another 5 years when he already peaked 6 years ago. He is a cap dump level player with that contract
Yes, Johnson was placed on waivers as Brisebois took a shot to move him that way(but didn'treally expect it to work). Tampa also had a deal in place to move him before Kuch had to go on ltir. He had one near ppg year yes, as well as one tougher year(31 points in 65 games). For his career he's a .6 ppg player and has basically hit that every year outside of the two where he went high and low. His contract is hardly a cap dump level for what he usually produces.
Due to the current climate and cap situation, Tampa had to move someone and Johnson was the logical choice because he did have 1 down year and because of Tampa's depth. He has 3 years left after this, not 5. I see you're just another that assumes 30 means done on here, so need to discuss that point further really. Oh and hey, he's back to .6 ppg essentially so far this year. He'll likely be Seattle's pick in the exp draft and be a capable 2/3C for them. He needs to play center and not wing, as he is not nearly as effective as a winger.
For the record, he's a .63 ppg player for his career or 52 points a year. 5 million aav is far from terrible for that level of production. Even going deeper, he's .59 ppg since 2016 for an average of 48 points a year, and taking out his near ppg year and his one sub .5 ppg year, he's still at .6 ppg or 49 points year for his career. Again, 5 million is at most a slight overpay for what he brings. Yes, he's perhaps Tampa's most expendable 4-5 million player, but that does not mean he is some scrub or in any normal situation, a cap dump.