Veteran Aaron Johnson has proved to be influential figure for Sheffield Steelers

A veteran of more than 290 NHL games, as well as over 400 in the AHL, it remains to be seen whether Johnson is part of Steelers’ head coach Aaron Fox’s plans for 2020-21.

Together with Steelers’ captain Jonathan Phillips, at 37, Johnson was the oldest member of the roster last time out, a season which saw him spend extended spells on the sidelines due to two separate hand injuries.

That may have limited him to just 23 appearances on the ice – including what turned out to be the season-ending Challenge Cup Final win over Cardiff Devils – but, for Phillips, Johnson’s influence and experience remained a welcome constant throughout the campaign.

This, in part, was down to him being made player-assistant coach by Fox ahead of the season, meaning when he was out injured, he was an additional voice behind the bench on match nights and at practice.

Johnson was brought to the Steelers by former coach Paul Thompson in the summer of 2018 following two years in the DEL with Adler Mannheim and Phillips admits he has benefitted Johnson’s vast experience, gained from playing with the likes of Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders.

“I’ve always said you are never too old for learning, particularly when you’ve got somebody there who has played at the highest levels for as long as he did,” said Phillips.

“He’s more than willing to give back and share advice and if you ever approach him with a question or an issue he will always go above and beyond to help you out.

“Every game I’ll be trying to pick his brains on stuff, especially during that stretch when he was out injured on the bench – I’d ask him for feedback on whether I needed to do certain things better or if I had made the right choices out on the ice.”

Phillips, who this week should have been in Switzerland with Great Britain for the world championships – like every other sporting event cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic – said he had learned, thanks to Johnson, not to let mistakes linger throughout games.

“He’s probably helped me mentally more than anything, and has helped make me feel I can relax a lot more out on the ice, not be so hard on myself” explained Phillips.

“He’s been a big help in me becoming better at shrugging off any mistakes I make – learn from them, sure, but just not to let it linger and affect you for the rest of the game, which is what I used to do and be quite hard on myself.”

Phillips is one of just three players known to be returning for the 2020-21 campaign, with fellow defenceman James Bettauer and GB team-mate Robert Dowd having signed two-year deals last summer.

It will mark the Hull-born defenceman’s fifth season in Steelers colours in a distinguished career that has seen him play all over the world, including two seasons in the AHL and short stints in Denmark and Australia.

But he has certainly found his place in South Yorkshire and believes great strides were made under Fox last season after the previous campaign’s troubles.

“Aaron signed a far better team than we had had the previous year, that was quite obvious for everyone to see,” added Phillips. “We had a top quality squad and although I know every team has their share of injuries, we were a bit unlucky in that regard.

“But we made great strides and closed that gap a lot on Cardiff and Belfast.

“I actually thought we had the best team on paper, we were just a little bit inconsistent here and there and everyone will admit that.

There were too many times where there were games where we just didn’t play well enough and we figured out towards the end that we could win every game if we just made sure we gave 100 per cent.

“But there were loads of positives to take out of it but also room for improvement in certain areas.”