Adam Vingan

avingan@tennessean.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A young Ryan Johansen, clearly more skilled than hockey players his own age growing up, was fast-tracked to higher levels of competition.

That didn't stop him from dominating games. He could basically score whenever he felt like it, but there was no thrill in that.

"Ryan," Johansen recalled his father, also his coach, telling him, "pass the puck to some other kids and try to get them to score goals." So he did, discovering what kind of contributor he wanted to be.

"I just seemed to find such more joy making a good pass to a teammate and seeing the excitement out of a friend and linemate," he said.

That mindset is what has carried Johansen to this point of his playing career, having already established himself as a legitimate No. 1 center in the NHL and the Predators' unquestioned top playmaker.

"A lot of times, coaches or teammates will be, 'Ryan, you need to shoot a little more or shoot the puck when you have some chances,' and yeah, I agree sometimes," said Johansen, 24. "But the way I've always viewed the game and the way I've always played it since I can remember is just I try and create the best opportunity, I think, to score on the ice."

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Hockey requires making split-second decisions, and the league's best distributors instinctually know where to put the puck for their teammates. There's also an element of deception involved. It's a head fake or an even more subtle shift of the eyes, whatever it takes for Johansen to freeze defenders for that extra second to open a passing or shooting lane and create a scoring chance.

“I’d be willing to bet that (Johansen) has been making plays since he was 4 years old," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "That’s who (he is) as a player. Not that you can’t get better at different things, but I don’t think (he) changed all of a sudden because (he) made it to the National Hockey League."

By his own admission, Johansen's production hasn't been where it needs to be this season, with four assists during Nashville's inconsistent 2-4-1 start. He recorded three of them on opening night, setting up all of the Predators' power-play goals in their victory against the Blackhawks for the second three-assist performance of his career.

On the Predators' power play, Johansen is typically stationed near the left-wing boards, where he can rotate through several options. In the first period of that Oct. 14 win, Johansen held the puck at the half wall, selling a pass to forward James Neal, who was waiting by the slot for a close-range shot.

Those few seconds of eye contact immobilized three Blackhawks penalty killers surrounding Neal, freeing a path for defenseman Roman Josi to score on a one-timer from the point.

"As penalty killers, you're all taught to get in the shot lane. That's your job," Johansen said, breaking down that particular play. "And if I'm able to suck them over by holding it and looking another way maybe and doing a good pass to (Josi) in his wheelhouse, him and (Predators defenseman P.K. Subban) have such good shots that if those go through like they did in the first game, they have a great chance of going in."

Such intuitive ability is coveted in the NHL, and the Predators traded for Johansen last season because of it.

"I never was the type of player that just liked to go down and fire the shot," Johansen said. "I tried to slow the game and suck guys to me and make plays to other players where they were able to score. I guess as a player now, I really enjoy that part of my game and playing that way."

Reach Adam Vingan on Twitter @AdamVingan.

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