Introduction
Stephen Johns (born April 18, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman. He is currently playing with the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Johns was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2nd round (60th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career
As a youth, Johns played in the 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Pittsburgh Hornets minor ice hockey team.
As a junior, Johns played the 2009–10 season with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. He was a member of the gold-medal-winning team at the 2010 IIHF World U18 Championships.
Johns then played four seasons (2010–2014) of NCAA Division I hockey with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey team, helping Notre Dame to win the 2013 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. As a sophomore Johns was selected to compete with Team USA at the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and in his senior year his outstanding play was recognized when he was named to the Hockey East Second All-Star Team and also to the 2014 Hockey East All Tournament Team.
On April 2, 2014, the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) signed Johns to a two-year, entry-level contract to begin with the 2014–15 NHL season, but he was immediately assigned to begin his professional career with the Blackhawks' AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs on a professional try-out contract.
On July 10, 2015, Johns and Patrick Sharp were traded by the Blackhawks to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt. After attending his first training camp with the Stars, Johns was reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, to begin the 2015–16 season. Having passed his previous season's offensive numbers, he received his first NHL recall by the Dallas Stars and made his debut in a 5–2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on March 12, 2016. He recorded his first career NHL goal on March 17, 2016 and the following day signed a two-year contract with the Stars.
On January 18, 2020 Johns played his first game since returning from a post-traumatic headache he suffered during the 2017-18 season, in a Stars defeat against the Minnesota Wild, and on February 3, he scored his first goal in nearly 2 years in a victory against the New York Rangers.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2008–09 | USA National Development Team | NAHL | 31 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | USA National Development Team | USHL | 23 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | CCHA | 44 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | CCHA | 39 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | CCHA | 41 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | HE | 40 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 51 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 44 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | Texas Stars | AHL | 55 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 2016–17 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 61 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Texas Stars | AHL | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 75 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Texas Stars | AHL | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 17 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | |||||||
| NHL totals | 167 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 93 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | United States | WJC18 | 
|
7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | |
| 2012 | United States | WJC | 7th | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Junior totals | 13 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| IIHF World U18 Championship Gold Medal (Team USA) | 2010 | |
| CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Champion | 2013 | |
| CCHA All-Tournament Team | 2013 | |
| Hockey East Second All-Star Team | 2014 | |
| Hockey East All-Tournament Team | 2014 |