Ben Johnson was drafted in the third round (90th overall) by the Devils in 2012. The Michigan native was playing in the Ontario Hockey League with the Windsor Spitfires at the time. He would never make it to the NHL. The next year, Johnson was charged with sexual assault against two females; one of them 16 and the other 20. The case included some horrific details. In 2016, he was found guilty of the crimes and was promptly dropped from his entry-level contract by New Jersey. Johnson would go on to serve three years in prison.
Johnson will play for the Krefeld Pinguine in 2023-24. The team participates in Germany's second tier professional league, DEL2. Other than the two hockey seasons he spent in jail, Johnson never stopped playing professionally. From 2018 to 2020, he suited up for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL, and then didn't play for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent another year in the ECHL after that, and then signed in Slovakia for last season.
