Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford came to the defence of free agent signee Jack Johnson on Wednesday, stating he's been treated unfairly since joining the team.

“From the media to the fans, nobody has given him a chance from the first day he got here,” Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “And Jack Johnson’s doing fine.”

Johnson, 32, inked a five-year, $16.25 million contract with the Penguins on July 1. Rutherford said poor treatment by the media towards the defenceman began at his introductory news conference that day.

“I’ve never been in those media scrums when a player comes in — it just happened he was there that day, and I was very surprised at the questions he was asked for a player who was just acquired,” Rutherford said. “It started right from there.”

Johnson, who spent the previous six seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, has one goal and 12 points in 60 games this season with a minus-6 rating. He's averaging 19:01 of ice time, which is the lowest mark of his career.

Including the playoffs, Johnson spent 11 of his final 14 games with the Blue Jackets as a healthy scratch, something he was asked about on July 1.

“It started right from there,” Rutherford continued. “Nobody gave him a chance. Jack Johnson is doing fine.”

Wednesday marked the second time this season that Rutherford has described Johnson's play as "fine" in his defence.