The Toronto Maple Leafs are off to an alright start to their 2025-26 season with a 3-2-0 record and a couple instances of pure domination, mixed with some light embarrassment from a divisional rival. But one player that has been steady throughout the first few games is winger Calle Jarnkrok and he's making his way out of the lineup for Saturday night's game against the Seattle Kraken.
Jarnkrok went from being a potential extra forward, or even someone who was traded before the season started last month, to a winger who has scored timely goals and has three on the season in just five games. Only Auston Matthews has scored more goals than the 34-year-old Swedish winger for the Maple Leafs, but he will now be a healthy scratch.
Steven Lorentz will be making his return to the lineup after suffering a minor injury that kept him out of the last three games for Toronto. And, with players like rookie Easton Cowan and young(ish) winger Nick Robertson playing well enough or providing enough of an offensive jump higher in the lineup, Jarnkrok had to come out.
Craig Berube confirms that Steven Lorentz will come in for Calle Jarnkrok tonight against Seattle.
— David Alter (@dalter) October 18, 2025
“Just a numbers game. Nothing more that that.”@BodogCA
Lorentz will be returning on the fourth line next to Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua, providing a pretty solid bottom trio with an ability to play in all three zones. And as head coach Craig Berube mentioned, via The Hockey News' David Alter, it is really just a numbers game. Cowan is up on the top line with Matthews and Matthew Knies, the trio of Matias Maccelli with John Tavares and William Nylander has looked solid, and the third line of Bobby McMann, Max Domi, and Nick Robertson are a one-way power trio. Every line has its purpose and reason to not break them up.
Unless Cowan goes down to the AHL, or we see Berube get sick of Joshua's underperformance, Jarnkrok will have a tough path to getting back into the lineup.