Mattias Janmark: Back with the Edmonton Oilers or gone in 2023-24?

Mattias Janmark’s time in Edmonton looked like it might have been over before it began.

The Oilers inked the Swede to a one-year deal worth $1.25 million a few days into free agency last summer, giving the team a versatile, veteran forward to improve the team’s depth.

He wound up on waivers as a salary cap casualty following training camp and joined the Bakersfield Condors to kick off the season. Janmark was called back up to the Oilers in November when Evander Kane was injured and needed to go on the Long-Term Injured Reserve.

Janmark stayed with the big league club the rest of the season and provided them with exactly what they were hoping for when they signed him in the off-season. He chipped in with 10 goals, three of which were shorthanded, and 25 points over 66 games while serving as one of Edmonton’s top penalty killers.

His season in 2022-23 was virtually identical to the one he had in 2021-22 before signing in Edmonton, so logic would indicate that Janmark should earn the same contract again this summer. Can the Oilers afford to bring him back?

While with the Detroit Red Wings, Ken Holland selected Janmark in the third round of the 2013 draft. A couple of years later, Janmark was moved along with Mattias Backman and a second-round pick to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Erik Cole.

Janmark inked a two-year, entry-level contract with the Stars shortly after the trade and broke into the NHL during the 2015-16 season with 15 goals and 29 points across 73 games. He spent three more seasons in Dallas and was a part of the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in the bubble playoffs in the summer of 2020.

Since his entry-level contract, Janmark has been bouncing around on one-year deals. He signed two different one-year, $2.3 million deals with the Stars for 2018-19 and 2019-20 and then left the team in free agency to join the Chicago Blackhawks on a one-year, $2.25 million contract. Janmark played only 41 games for the Blackhawks before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of the 2021 season’s trade deadline. He re-signed with the Golden Knights the following summer on a one-year, $2 million deal and scored nine goals and 25 points over 67 games.

The Oilers inked Janmark to a one-year, $1.25 million contract a few days into free agency last summer. He wound up on waivers as a salary cap casualty after training camp but was recalled a few weeks into the season and didn’t look back. Janmark scored 10 goals and 25 points for the Oilers over 66 games, a stat line that mirrors the one that he had with Vegas the season before.

Now 30 years old, Janmark has established himself as a quality veteran who can kill penalties and chip in offensively. He provided solid value for the Oilers last season but the team might need to look for a cheaper replacement unless he’s willing to take another pay cut to return.

The Oilers are in a very difficult spot with their salary cap situation and every single dollar that they spend will matter as the season goes along. They had to play much of the 2022-23 season without a full 23-man roster to stay under the cap ceiling and finding cheaper depth players this summer will help avoid that issue come 2023-24.