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Mattias Janmark

Injury Notes: Bennett, Romanov, Janmark

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Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett will return to the lineup for Game 2 against the Boston Bruins, head coach Paul Maurice confirmed today. Bennett missed the final 12 games of the regular season and 13 overall with a groin injury, his second multi-game absence of the season.

Bennett is a crucial secondary scoring option for a Panthers team that needs all the help they can get to unseat the President’s Trophy winners in the first round. The 26-year-old has continued to progress since joining the Panthers, recording 40 points in 63 games this season while serving as their second-line center. That’s a role he’ll resume tonight, per the Panthers’ line rushes at practice this morning, skating between Eetu Luostarinen and Matthew Tkachuk. With Boston still without Patrice Bergeron, Bennett’s return is a major boost for Florida, who needs to double down on a strong Game 1 effort to tie the series.

  • New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov remains out of the lineup tonight, says The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz. Romanov has been out of the lineup since April 2 with an undisclosed injury and is still listed as day-to-day, although a return doesn’t seem imminent. Samuel Bolduc, who’s drawn in for Romanov down the stretch and did so again in Game 1 Monday, recorded a +1 rating in just 8:51 of ice time against the Hurricanes.
  • Edmonton Oilers winger Mattias Janmark could miss Game 2 against the Los Angeles Kings tonight after blocking a shot off his right foot Monday, TSN’s Jason Gregor reports. Janmark did not participate in this morning’s practice and was seen limping after the Oilers’ Game 1 overtime loss. Gregor expects the Oilers to dress seven defensemen tonight with Janmark absent, meaning youngster Philip Broberg could make his second career playoff appearance. Janmark did register an assist in Game 1.

Evander Kane Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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After undergoing an emergency procedure following a scary incident last night, Evander Kane has been placed on long-term injured reserve by the Edmonton Oilers. Kane’s wrist was lacerated by a skate blade, pouring blood onto the ice and requiring immediate medical attention. After being transported to the hospital, the Oilers announced that Kane was in stable condition and would undergo a surgical procedure. He has now been ruled out for the next three to four months, though no other details were revealed.

With the added cap flexibility and an extra roster spot, the team has recalled Mattias Janmark and Klim Kostin from the minor leagues.

In a post earlier today, Kane released a statement thanking the training staff of both the Oilers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, along with the paramedics and doctors that helped to repair the injury. Though there aren’t many details on what exactly was damaged, Kane vowed that he will be back and suggested that it could have been much worse without their immediate help.

The 31-year-old winger wasn’t scoring goals at quite the incredible pace he set after arriving in Edmonton last season but he was still having a great start to the year. With five goals and 13 points in his first 14 games (including the nine shifts he had last night before exiting), he was actually on pace to set a new career high in points. His previous best was 57, set back in 2011-12, thanks to a number of seasons cut short for various reasons. Kane has never played in more than 78 games in a single season and that trend will continue with this months-long absence.

For the Oilers, losing one of your best offensive weapons is never a good situation but they do have some strong depth coming in. Both Kostin and Janmark have NHL experience, especially the latter, who has been a full-time player for the past six years. In 67 games with the Vegas Golden Knights last year, Janmark had nine goals and 25 points. Kostin meanwhile played 40 times for the St. Louis Blues in 2021-22, scoring nine points.

While neither of them can fill the role that Kane had, forward depth hasn’t been the calling card of the Oilers in years past. At least this time they have legitimate options to insert into the lineup, though there will be some shuffling required to figure out the best way forward.

Snapshots: Ekblad, Broberg, Janmark, Dach

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At the time that the Panthers placed Aaron Ekblad on LTIR, there was no timetable for his return beyond that it was expected that he’d be back this season.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported that the blueliner is likely to miss somewhere between four and seven weeks.  At a minimum, he has to miss 10 games and 24 days and if he’s ready to be back at the shorter end of that timeline, Ekblad might not miss much more than the minimum time.  Florida isn’t expected to go out and acquire a short-term replacement as they’ll need to have enough cap space to activate Ekblad when he’s ready to return but fortunately for them, they shouldn’t be without their star blueliner for too long.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • At the beginning of the season, the Oilers were shuffling defenseman Philip Broberg back and forth between Edmonton and AHL Bakersfield. They haven’t lately and Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) why as the blueliner has been dealing with an upper-body injury for the last few days and is questionable to play this weekend.  Accordingly, it’ll take a little longer before he gets his next chance with the big club.  Meanwhile, Nugent-Bowman adds that the reason that veteran winger Mattias Janmark hasn’t played in Bakersfield yet despite being sent down nearly two weeks ago is that he has yet to receive his U.S. work permit.
  • Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach has been placed in concussion protocol, notes Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link). It’s the second time in a month that he has been moved there after entering protocol in mid-September.  The 19-year-old had gotten off to a good start with WHL Kelowna with three points in as many games but now, it’s likely he’ll be shut down for a little while.  Dach has already signed his entry-level deal with Chicago and will likely turn pro next season.

Snapshots: Phillips, Aman, Janmark

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The Chicago Blackhawks’ 2022-23 season is unlikely going to be one where the team is focused intensely on winning games, but instead one where player development is the main goal. To that end, the lack of established talent on the Blackhawks’ roster means that younger players might have more of an opportunity to see NHL time in Chicago than they would have on other teams. One of the players who might benefit from that opportunity is Isaak Phillips, a 2020 fifth-round pick who was just called up by Chicago for their final preseason game.

The Blackhawks’ new coach Luke Richardson said, as relayed by The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, that he thinks that Phillips will ultimately begin the season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs and play as a top-pairing shutdown defenseman there. The 21-year-old Phillips played in four NHL games last season and this call-up suggests Phillips could be near the front of the line for a regular-season recall should the Blackhawks end up needing another defenseman on their roster.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

  • The Colorado Avalanche drafted Swedish forward Nils Aman in the sixth round of the 2020 draft, but didn’t sign him to an entry-level deal, letting his rights expire. The Vancouver Canucks scooped him up in June on an entry-level deal, and now it’s beginning to look like that was a savvy move on the part of GM Patrik Allvin and his front office. Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic report (subscription link) that there is “increasing industry buzz” that Aman has done enough to cement himself as the Canucks’ opening-night fourth-line center. If that ends up being the route the team chooses to go, it will be a major step forward for the 22-year-old, as he has no experience in North American pro hockey. Aman spent the last two seasons as a full-time player for Leksands in the SHL, scoring 14 points in a limited role.
  • Veteran forward Mattias Janmark was waived by the Edmonton Oilers today, and while he’s just one of the several notable NHLers to hit waivers today, he may be one of the few who actually get claimed by another team. Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe speculates that the Winnipeg Jets could be a team that possibly files a claim for Janmark. Wiebe notes that Jets are currently trying to figure out who will play in their bottom six, and since Janmark has a connection with new coach Rick Bowness, (Janmark played for Bowness as a member of the Dallas Stars) it’s possible that the Jets attempt to add him to their roster. Janmark signed a one-year, $1.25MM deal with the Oilers this summer and had 25 points in 67 games last season.

Waivers: 10/07/22

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It’s an important day for waivers as the regular season approaches, and several potential targets are available. With the preseason wrapping up, teams will try to sneak players through at the last second and keep them in the organization for the time being.

Many of these placements are due to salary cap restrictions or LTIR machinations to give teams maximum flexibility as the season begins. Everyone from yesterday’s list cleared.

Here is today’s group of waiver additions:

Carolina Hurricanes

Jordan Martinook

Dallas Stars

Anton Khudobin

Edmonton Oilers

Mattias Janmark
Dmitri Samorukov

Minnesota Wild

Steven Fogarty

New Jersey Devils

Andreas Johnsson
Brian Pinho

Philadelphia Flyers

Kevin Connauton
Troy Grosenick

St. Louis Blues

Martin Frk
Klim Kostin
Matthew Highmore

Vancouver Canucks

Justin Dowling

Winnipeg Jets

Johnathan Kovacevic

Edmonton Oilers Sign Mattias Janmark

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The Edmonton Oilers have announced their latest free agent signing: former Vegas Golden Knight Mattias Janmark is heading north, joining the Oilers on a one-year, $1.25MM deal.

Janmark, 29, was a third-round pick of the Dallas Stars at the 2013 draft and has been a consistent third or fourth-line forward since making his NHL debut in 2015-16. Janmark made the jump to North American professional hockey after an impressive season with Frolunda of the SHL and made an immediate impact with the Stars, scoring 15 goals and 29 points in 73 games. Janmark missed all of 2016-17 with a knee injury, but that didn’t stop his immediate production, as he scored 19 goals and 34 points in his first season after the injury.

The year after that, though, Janmark’s puck luck evaporated. Janmark’s shooting percentages in his first two seasons had hovered in the low teens, and in 2018-19 it crashed to just 5.7%, leading Janmark to a disappointing six-goal, 25-point year. In 2019-20, Janmark’s shooting rebounded only slightly, and he finished with another six-goal performance on a 7% shooting percentage. Those two disappointing years sealed Janmark’s exit from Dallas, and he signed a one-year, $2.25MM deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.

In Chicago, Janmark re-discovered his goal-scoring touch, potting ten goals and 19 points in just 41 games before he was traded to the Golden Knights as part of a three-team trade that net the Blackhawks second and third-round picks. In Vegas, Janmark had only five points in 15 regular season games, but that wasn’t what earned him a contract extension. Janmark is best known in Vegas for serving as the team’s hero in Game Seven against the Minnesota Wild, a game where Janmark scored a hat trick. Janmark finished with eight points in 16 playoff games and earned a one-year $2MM extension in Vegas.

Janmark’s most recent season with the Golden Knights was an up-and-down affair. His production was decent, as nine goals and 25 points aren’t totally out of line with his career averages. But injuries and the overall decline of the Golden Knights as a whole kept Janmark from having the night-to-night impact in a winning team’s bottom-six that he’s used to having. That’s what’s likely responsible for this slight decline in pay, although Janmark does now end up in a favorable situation in Edmonton.

Janmark is joining a team that just went to the Western Conference Final and he should be able to take on a valuable bottom-six role as a second-unit penalty-killer and secondary goal-scorer. Janmark has averaged around a minute of shorthanded ice time per game for the past few seasons and that’s about what should be expected of him in Edmonton.

At a $1.25MM price tag, the Oilers have secured a reliable, experienced, prime-age bottom-sixer who can help their penalty kill. The Oilers’ offseason is far from over, as Kailer Yamamoto, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Ryan McLeod are all restricted free agents, but this is a sensible addition nonetheless.

Snapshots: Russia, Vegas, Vancouver

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The NHL has made its stance public in regards to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, releasing a statement explaining what actions it will take:

The National Hockey League condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible. Effective immediately, we are suspending our relationships with our business partners in Russia and we are pausing our Russian language social and digital media sites. In addition, we are discontinuing any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions involving the NHL.

We also remain concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL Clubs, and not on behalf of Russia. We understand they and their families are being placed in an extremely difficult position.

The statement came just moments after the IIHF suspended Russian and Belarusian clubs from several international competitions. More from around the league:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights have been struggling of late, losing their last two and six of their last ten. They still sit in a playoff position in the Pacific Division, but things are as tight as ever, with the sixth-place Vancouver Canucks just ten points out of first place in the division. It’s good news that Robin Lehner is set to return tomorrow night, but head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic that both Max Pacioretty and Mattias Janmark are out tomorrow and “wouldn’t call either close” to a return. Pacioretty has played just 25 games this season–though he does have 15 goals and 27 points in those appearances.
  • Speaking of Vancouver, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on CHEK TV today and spoke about the Canucks current trade talks. The insider explained that the Canucks have “thrown everyone’s name out there” except for Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko, asking teams how they view and what they would pay for them should they become available. Still, the Canucks are still not out of the Pacific race by any means and don’t really have to make any decisions by the trade deadline, with players like J.T. Miller still under contract for next season and Brock Boeser still a restricted free agent this summer.

Snapshots: Draft Rankings, Golden Knights, Girard

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NHL Central Scouting released their list of “players to watch” for the upcoming 2022 NHL Draft, and potential first-overall pick Shane Wright is one of 23 players ranked as an “A” prospect. The others, which include names like Brad Lambert, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Conor Geekie, and Matthew Savoie, are obviously all names to keep in mind as this year progresses.

Notably, there are only five defensemen and no goaltenders ranked as “A” prospects, with forwards dominating the top of the list this year. The group is also tilted slightly toward North American skaters, with 13 of the 23 coming from this side of the pond.

  • The Vegas Golden Knights may have dodged a bullet when it comes to Mark Stone, who won’t need surgery according to Jesse Granger of The Athletic. The Golden Knights captain is somewhere “between day to day and week to week” says head coach Pete DeBoer. Mattias Janmark, meanwhile, is still in the COVID protocol and will not be available tomorrow night. DeBoer expects him to be cleared soon.
  • The first three players on each Olympic roster have already been announced, but a few days ago each participating nation also had to submit a “long list” of potential NHL candidates. Though it hasn’t been released to the public yet, at least one name won’t be included. Samuel Girard told reporters including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press that received a call from Canada GM Doug Armstrong, who explained that he did not make the long list. It certainly would have been difficult for Girard to make the team anyway, but his exclusion even from the possible targets shows just how deep the Canadian blue line is.

NHL Down To Four Unvaccinated Players

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The NHL expected that 98% or perhaps even 99% of their players would be vaccinated against the Coronavirus before the start of the 2021-22 season. It seems that they have somehow bettered that mark. Commissioner Gary Bettman has revealed that there are currently only four unvaccinated players in the league. This is understood to mean that all but four of the roughly 736 players on NHL rosters as of yesterday’s deadline are vaccinated – 99.5% of all players. Bettman spoke to his appreciation and respect for how the players have handled the pandemic in many ways over the past two years:

Throughout all of this, we had great collaboration and cooperation with the players and Players’ Association. This doesn’t happen to get to this point without that collaboration and cooperation. Yes, the players have stepped up to get vaccinated, but even thinking about how the players had to function the last two years, to go into the bubble… Having to adhere to the protocols last season so we could administer 330,000 tests to keep everybody healthy. The fact that we were in the bubble and I think we did 35,000 tests and didn’t have one positive. Everybody banded together to do the right thing. Maybe that’s why hockey is the ultimate team sport.

Of those four players, two have previously been confirmed as New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who has at least considered receiving the vaccine, and Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi. While Montreal Canadiens forward Jesse Ylonen is also unvaccinated and veteran Vancouver Canucks defenseman Travis Hamonic has been speculated as such as well, neither are considered to be part of this group of four as they are both currently in the AHL.

Bettman also noted that all team personnel and all officials are vaccinated. As a whole, the NHL is about as close to full protection against COVID-19 as could reasonably be expected, not to mention lightyears ahead of the other top North American pro sports leagues.

And yet, Coronavirus will continue to play a part in this NHL season. The Seattle Kraken have already dealt with numerous players entering the COVID Protocol before they can even play their first game in the league, while individual players like Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Vegas’ Mattias Janmark are also sidelined by positive tests. The league and its players have done their best to this point, but will have to continue to adhere to COVID Protocol policies and procedures as all involved hope to play a full and uninterrupted schedule this season.

Mattias Janmark Unavailable Due To COVID Protocol

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The Vegas Golden Knights kick things off tomorrow against the Seattle Kraken, the second game of the 2021-22 regular season. Unfortunately, it looks like they may be missing one of their forward options. Mattias Janmark was unavailable to the team today because he has been put in the league’s COVID-19 protocol.

As a reminder, inclusion in the protocol does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list–which actually won’t be released for the first time until tomorrow–are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol.

Janmark has not had a good camp with the Golden Knights, who signed him to a one-year, $2MM contract this offseason after a trade brought him to Vegas last season. The 28-year-old was playing on the fourth line recently, not exactly what was expected of a player that made such a strong impression in the playoffs and was supposed to add some valuable depth scoring to the lineup.

His addition to the protocol so close to the regular season is a reminder that there will still be lineup disruptions throughout the year, even for those players and teams that are fully vaccinated. It is not clear yet how long Janmark will be unavailable.

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