By Michael Russo mrusso@startribune.com CHICAGO – As a 30-something on a team full of 20-somethings, Kim Johnsson takes his share of abuse. There's no denying the amount of work the Wild defenseman puts in. But when Johnsson, 33, leaves the ice or the gym, teammates don't need a stopwatch to time how long it takes him to be in his car. Brent Burns: "He's already on 35E." Nick Schultz: "Yeah, the wife's calling. He's got an appointment at the zoo right now with his kids." Brent Burns: "No, spring cleaning's almost over, so he's still got to clean out the garage before it gets chilly. Plus, it's fall. The leaves are coming, so he's got to sweep the porch." Nick Schultz: "No, he mowed the lawn and raked the leaves before he got here, right after he got the coffee ready and served the wife breakfast in bed and took the kids to school." As Schultz says, laughing, "Yohnny comes across as Super Dad." Johnsson's life entails two different worlds, and he prefers them not colliding. Johnsson and his wife, Jeanette, have two daughters, Filippa, 6, and Felicia, 3, and "when I'm not here, I'm with my kids," Johnsson says. "When you get older, you realize why you play and you realize the career is very, very short. I go home to my kids, and there's no time to think about bad games and good games because you're just dad." Johnsson, the last pick in the 1994 Draft (286th overall by the New York Rangers), so quietly goes about his business, it's astonishing this is already his fourth season in Minnesota. In 2006, following four seasons with Philadelphia after being acquired in the Eric Lindros deal, Johnsson signed a four-year, $19.4 million contract with the Wild. That price tag has created his share of critics. With a salary-cap hit of $4.85 million (he's the Wild's second-highest paid player behind Niklas Backstrom this season at $5.3 million), Johnsson was expected to generate oodles of points from the back end. But after averaging 40.7 points from 2001-04 with the Flyers, Johnsson's numbers decreased in Jacques Lemaire's defensive system. He's averaged 24.3 points a season in three years in Minnesota. New coach Todd Richards' system is a skating system that requires the defensemen to join the attack, which should suit Johnsson better. "This is basically how we played in Philly," Johnsson said. While Johnsson hasn't scored as much as expected, he still has immense value. Anybody who watched the Wild before Johnsson got here knows how hard it was for the Wild to get out of its defensive zone. The team's become a solid transition team, and that has a lot to do with Johnsson, one of the NHL's smoothest skaters. Johnsson has led the Wild in ice time (23 minutes, 54 seconds a game) the past three seasons. "The thing that's amazing is we barely see the guy before camp, and he comes on the ice and he's like the best skater for us," Schultz said. "He's just a natural and so patient with the puck." A native of Malmo, Sweden, Johnsson's ability to skate the puck out of trouble stems from twice-a-day practices as a kid. "I actually had a coach in Sweden, Peo Larsson, who told me, 'When you get the puck, just take three quick strides and you'll be fine,'" Johnsson said. "I said, 'Oh yeah, I'll try that,' and it worked. It was that simple. It just takes one guy to tell you something like that, and it clicks." Johnsson is one of nine Wild players, including Marek Zidlicky, Eric Belanger, Owen Nolan and Derek Boogaard, who can become unrestricted free agents next summer. The Wild, under its previous management, had a history of allowing free agents to walk for no compensation. GM Chuck Fletcher says his philosophy will be to lock up players early if they fit into the future, but because this is his first season, he first wants to evaluate the team. "They'll be a period of time in the early portion of everyone getting to know each other," Fletcher said. "Then, when there's a higher level of trust, it'll be a lot easier to talk about contracts. But Kim's a terrific player. He plays as many minutes as any defenseman in the league and is a guy who can be used in every situation." Johnsson agreed with Fletcher that it makes little sense to discuss an extension yet until both sides got to know each other. "But this is a tremendous place to play," Johnsson said. For Johnsson to stay, however, he'll undoubtedly have to take a pay cut. Asked if he'd consider that, Johnsson said, "If it comes up, I'll think about it then. Like I said, I really like it here. My family loves it here. "My kids," he added, chuckling, "they think they were born here."
