Edmonton Oilers sign 29 year old C/LW Mattias Janmark to a one year, $1.25 million contract
Janmark is a veteran of 420 NHL games, and is a bottom six forward with decent offensive chops for a bottom six forward, as he put up 9-16-25 in 67 games with a +3 and 21 PIMs.
Expect him to play most of the year on the third line if they succeed in jettisoning Warren Foegele from the roster and the fourth line otherwise. Good for him that he’s versatile to play two different positions, since as the old saying goes when building an NHL roster – you can never have too many centers in the forward ranks.
I would expect Janmark should provide good veteran depth for the bottom six and provide more cover for guys like Dylan Holloway and Xavier Bourgault if they need more seasoning. I expect his main competition will be Tyler Benson.
Risk factor – none. This is a prototypical Holland move, who is always looking to tinker with his bottom six. If he doesn’t work out you can always stash most of his cap hit in the minors and just wait for the contract to expire. Good pick.
My overall take – I approve. What’s not to like about better bottom six depth? Also, Holland took a break from signing 30 years olds because that was becoming cliché. Like it.