Snapshots: Eichel, Janmark, Sweden, Sharks

With Kirill Kaprizov off the board, Golden Knights center Jack Eichel is now arguably the top pending unrestricted free agent in the 2026 class.  In a recent appearance on Daily Faceoff’s The Sheet (video link), David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the hang-up in those conversations appears to be term more than money.  Financially speaking, he pointed to the $14MM AAV on Leon Draisaitl’s contract as one that stands as a reasonable comparable with Eichel’s price tag likely to come in somewhere near that mark on a max-term agreement.  But at this point, talks appear to be relatively slow with the two sides evidently not on the same page for how long they’d like this contract to be.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

• Oilers winger Mattias Janmark will miss around a week due to an undisclosed injury, relays Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). Janmark had 18 points in 80 games last season while playing a regular role for them in the playoffs as well.  Notably, Edmonton’s cap situation is relatively tight and they’ll already be without Zach Hyman to start the season.  Now, while Janmark won’t miss much time, he’ll be out for the opener which could create a bit of an early cap crunch for them to navigate through.
• Sweden’s hockey federation revealed today that future Blues GM Alex Steen has been named as a Player Personnel Consultant for their entry into next year’s Olympics. Steen will be taking over for Doug Armstrong as GM in St. Louis after this season.  Meanwhile, Blackhawks assistant coach Anders Sorensen will have that title for the Swedes in that tournament while Panthers assistant Myles Fee will serve as their video coach.
• The Sharks announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled forward Shane Bowers, defenseman Braden Hache, and goalie Jakub Skarek from AHL San Jose. All three were cut earlier this week with Bowers and Skarek passing through waivers unclaimed.  They’ll likely be sent back to the Barracuda over the next day or two.