The 2025-26 season has been a painful one in many ways for the Edmonton Oilers, with a number of veteran forwards demonstrating they’re not the players they used to be for one reason or another.
First Trent Frederic, then Andrew Mangiapane and then Adam Henrique before he got hurt, all struggled in their assigned roles and were moved down the line-up. The latest forward who is clearly struggling is defensive specialist Mattias Janmark, once known for his superlative, even super human, work on the Oilers PK, but most recently seen making rash decisions and costing his team goals against on the PK, first against the Caps, then against the Ducks.
Janmark
Of course, assessing the defensive play of penalty killers is a tough assignment given how small the difference is between being too aggressive and too passive on the PK. If you go a bit too hard at an opposing player at the wrong moment, you can cause a Grade A shot against. If you’re a wee bit too passive at the wrong moment, you can also cause a Grade A shot against.
But I doubt there’s any NHL penalty coach who would want a winger like Janmark to aggressively chase a player with full possession of the puck and not in scoring position, which is what Janmark did on two key plays, hustling over to attack players on near the boards, leaving the middle of the ice wide open for dangerous shots.
Janmark has for many years been a strong penalty killer in the NHL. He and his teammate Connor Brown become Edmonton folks heroes for their historically brilliant work on the PK in the 2024 playoffs. But Janmark’s overall game and his PK game have both fallen off dramatically since that great run, which saw him then sign a three-year deal at $1.45 million per season.
Janmark earned that contract, but he’s not living up to it. He used to pot about 10 goals a year, but last year he had just two in 80 games, this year one goal in 38 games. He’s been solid at even strength on defence, but no Oilers forward save for the slowing Henrique has a lower rate of contributions to Grade A shots for.
And on the PK his offence has dried up as well, while his defensive play has dropped.
For example in 2023-24 he made major mistakes on 22 Grade A shots against on the PK, but helped create 10 shorthanded Grade A shots for.
In 2024-25, he chipped on 16 for, making mistakes on 24 against.
So far this year in 2025-26, he’s at 2 for, 15 against. Of the regular forwards on the PK, he’s the one with the highest rate of mistakes on Grade A shots against.
Forwards Oilers PK
When you combine Janmark’s weak attacking at even strength with his falling performance on the PK, the obvious conclusion is that his spot in the line-up should be in danger just now. He’s found some chemistry on a fourth line with Curtis Lazar and Trent Frederic, but I’ll suggest Lazar is the engine of that line, and he might well do better with one or two other wingers.
I’d also suggest that right now the Oilers have called up big centre Josh Samanski, who played the PK in Bakersfield.
In the next few games why not see how Samanski can do on the PK in place of Janmark?
This is a case where things are indeed broken and they do need fixing.
Time for a change, no?
team PK
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