Toronto Maple Leafs: Jarnkrok Signing Proving to Be One Dubas Best

Last offseason, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas signed Calle Jarnkrok to a 4-year contract with a $2.1 million AAV. It’s safe to say Jarnkrok has more than earned those dollars.

This season, his first with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jarnkrok has set career highs in goals and points.

Jarnkrok so far this year has 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games, which is very good value for a player who is getting paid just over $2 million.

The Toronto Maple Leafs over the past few seasons have had trouble getting consistent scoring from their secondary players, and Jarnkrok is starting to change that.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Calle Jarnkrok

Outside their “core four forwards”, the Leafs forward group has been consistently changing, with players such as Ondrej Kase, Zach Hyman, and Ilya Mikheyev leaving in recent years.

On top of that, the Leafs have had to deal with a cap crunch basically every season.

Calle Jarnkrok is not only signed for 3 more years after this one, but he is also very affordable. A player who’s a lock to get at least 15 goals and 30 points a season for $2.1 million is a player every team wants.

Jarnkrok has also proved himself to be a very versatile player.

He has been used on the second power-play unit, the penalty kill, and basically every forward line. He has also developed chemistry with Leafs superstar Auston Matthews, and with more time together, as well as Matthews getting back to 100%, it is very reasonable Jarnkrok’s production could increase even further.

Jarnkrok, now 31, has been more than solid for the Leafs this regular season.

Now with only a few weeks until the playoffs, the focus is now on if Jarnkrok can keep it up in the postseason. He has made the playoffs 8 seasons in a row, mainly as a member of the Nashville Predators, and this year will be his 9th straight.

With the Leafs currently holding the NHL’s longest playoff series win drought, the pressure is building for them to finally break through in the playoffs. Calle Jarnkrok has proved himself to be a valuable part of this team, and he will need to continue his strong season into the playoffs.

However, if the Leafs make a deep run this year, expect Jarnkrok to be a big reason why.