The Maple Leafs announced Friday that the club has signed forward Calle Järnkrok to a four-year contract worth $2.1 million annually. Järnkrok split last season between Seattle and Calgary, registering 12 goals and 18 assists in 66 games before adding four more points in 12 postseason games for the Flames.
🖊 We signed a four-year contract with striker Calle Järnkrok. #LeafsForever
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 15, 2022
A native of Sweden, the soon-to-be 31-year-old Jarnkrok played in 574 regular-season NHL games over nine seasons between Nashville, Seattle and Calgary, scoring 106 goals and 135 assists for his career. He is known more as a versatile player who can play in the middle or on the wing while still providing solid value in defence.
Calle Jarnkrok, a 4x$2.1 million signing from TOR, is a versatile third-line defensive forward who can score goals and take penalties, but otherwise has a very limited offensive skill set. Takes very little punishment. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/g211V2NigK
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 15, 2022
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Järnkrok isn’t much of a striker, but has shown the ability to finish scoring chances, scoring 15 or more goals four times in his career. He combines good speed with a quality release to be an effective secondary scoring option that can fill a variety of roles up and down the lineup. While his biggest contribution will come on the defensive side of the puck, Järnkrok should inject a little more scoring touch into the Leafs’ bottom-six forward group.
So how are you Calle Jarnkrok⁉️ pic.twitter.com/dr7pgkVgFA
— NHL (@NHL) November 22, 2021
On the face of it, Järnkrok looks like a great option to replace some of what Ondrzej Kaše provided the club last season while playing alongside David Kämpf and getting tough minutes against other teams’ best players. Järnkrok does not carry the same injury history as Kaše and as a result provides a little more security for the Leafs as they continue to build their roster.
With a four-year term, Järnkrok has been locked up longer than any player on the Leafs’ roster other than Morgan Rielly, whose eight-year extension begins this coming season.
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Alex Kerfoot has just one year remaining on his current contract, and if the club decides to shop him in an attempt to clear additional salary cap space, the Leafs already have a suitable replacement on the roster moving forward. Järnkrok’s $2.1 million cap hit is more cost-effective for a player in that role than Kerfoot’s $3.5 million, and the Leafs may look to rebuild their assets rather than let Kerfoot walk as an unrestricted free agent next summer. Additionally, signing Järnkrok gives the club some insurance in case they can’t get a deal done for restricted free agent Pierre Engvall.
With Järnkrok already in the lineup, and assuming Nick Robertson and Wayne Simmonds are on the roster for opening night, the Leafs currently have about $2.2 million in cap space left to sign both Engvall and Rasmus Sandin , which would give them a 21-man roster. That number may not be enough to sign either of them, let alone both, so it looks like there will be additional moves at some point. Stay on the line.
(Stats from EliteProspects.com)
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