From OHL Spitfire to NHL Star: a Wyatt Johnston story
Forward Wyatt Johnston is becoming quite the household name in the National Hockey League with the Dallas Stars, leading the highest level of professional hockey in powerplay goals scored last 2025-26 season (27).
However, the now 23-year-old Toronto, ON native, going into his fifth full NHL season, left quite the lasting legacy of accolades during his two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Windsor Spitfires; which in return has left an imprint on him as important and special years for his overall development. Now one of the game's most dangerous offensive threats and highest of hockey IQ players.
Johnston was the 6th overall pick in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection by Windsor and came into major junior with high expectations from the Toronto Marlboros U16 AAA squad, following a 23-goal and 36-point campaign in 33 games that final year of minor hockey within the GTHL.
In 2019-20 the right-shot forward had a respectable rookie campaign in the OHL, accumulating 30 points in 53 games. Looking for more going into his second year, which was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnston says he used the lost season to train as hard as he could in other areas to improve his skills and craft.
“So many amazing memories of Windsor,” Johnston said. “Obviously missed some time from COVID, but I just spent a ton of time in the gym. I still had a lot of time to work on my game and do what I could to improve my game, gym, and then on the ice as well. “
“It was huge for me, development wise, just to get stronger, get bigger. There was a lot of time to hone in on my skills first to second year.”
During the lost OHL season, Johnston was selected first round by the Dallas Stars, 23rd overall, in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He also took home a Gold Medal at the U18 World’s for Hockey Canada, to cap off an important time in his development. That moment, along with the intense lost-season training was a major confidence boost for him going into that important second (would have been third) season in 2020-21.
Johnston exploded onto the scene with the Spitfires, scoring 46 goals and 124 points, appearing in all 68 regular season games, which he credits as a big factor for his consistency and transition to the grind of an NHL schedule and being able to stay healthy for a full 82-game season.
“I really felt the support and it was so much fun,” Johnston said. “It was my first kind of experience, playing in front of a sellout crowd, and it was a lot of fun. The biggest thing, I think, was playing 68 games that helped me a lot. because I've obviously played 82 here in the NHL, but that was super important for me just to experience that.
“I think throughout that run, playing in some really high-pressure games and high-pressure situations, I think really helped get me right. There're so many different ways that it helped. A lot of great memories. The WFCU Centre was a great place to play, especially in that playoff run we had.”
Johnston and the Spitfires were the top seed in the Western Conference that season with a 44-17-4-3 record and eventually went on to win the Western Conference’s Wayne Gretzky Trophy and an appearance in the OHL Championship series. Johnston, an alternate captain on that squad, was a big part of that success, amassing 14 goals and 41 points in 25 playoff games for Windsor.
Johnston credits his time in the OHL as being paramount for his development in making the jump to the NHL, scoring 24 goals as a true rookie, leading the league in that department during the 2022-23 season. The league prides itself on being the best development league in the world, now with increased competition and eligibility restrictions lifted for players to go collegiate as opposed to choosing only one development path or the other.
“Obviously, there's so many great players that come through the O and that you play with
and play against,” Johnston said. “In addition to that, I think it's elite too.”
“Those are super important factors for me to make that jump that I did to the next level (in the NHL). It was so much fun, so many amazing memories, and so many great friendships that I've made. Still really close with a lot of those guys and still stay in touch when we can.”
Although Windsor came up short against the Hamilton Bulldogs in the OHL Championship series that season, Johnston achieved several accolades during that 2021-22 season:
-CHL Top Scorer Award (124)
-OHL First All-Star Team
-OHL Most Outstanding Player (Red Tilson Trophy)
-OHL Most Points (Eddie Powers Trophy) (124)
-OHL Most Sportsmanlike Player (William Hanley Trophy)
-OHL Playoffs Most Assists (27)
-OHL Playoffs Most Points (41)
Johnston’s now NHL coach with the Dallas Stars, Glen Gulutzan, spoke glowingly about his smart and dedicated work ethic as a player, which has helped the Stars become one of the league’s most elite and high-powered offensive teams.
“You know what, he really works at his craft. He's trying to get better daily. He truly is, he's always,” Gulutzan said. “On the ice, he's a rink rat, but his hockey IQ for me is through the roof and his attention to detail.”
“Anything that we've given him as a coaching staff, with his power player PK, he's dialed in right
away. You combine that competitiveness with a hockey IQ and a guy that really, really wants to get better every day, I think that's what's made him a star in this league.”
In Johnston’s four seasons in the NHL, Dallas has not missed the playoffs and have been a top three seed in the Western Conference in all but his first season, a perennial contender in the Central Division, competing against some of the NHL’s very best teams and players over that time. Gulutzan added that Johnston’s ability to adapt to ‘scene changes’ are an underrated trait to his success.
“There’s a few different factors to that,” Gulutzan said. “His hockey IQ, his release, his ability to find space; but dynamically, what I mean is as the scene changes, he changes the scene too, in order to make sure he's open. That's a skill that's hard to teach. You combine that with the shot, the sense, and the ability to find space, he's lethal.”
Johnston, coming off a career-best season with 45 goals and 86 points, is heading into his fifth professional year, all in Dallas, with high expectations for him and the Stars; who are looking to get over the playoff hump after many years of being in the mix as one of the league’s elite teams.
“I still follow Windsor when I can,” Johnston said. “I cherish my time and appreciate all the support I got from the Spitfire fans when I was there and the support I still get from the people of Windsor to this day.”
Johnston concluded by adding that his favourite Windsor-style pizza is a slice of Antonino’s Original.
Comments