SaltWire E-Edition

Jarnkrok gives coach another top-six option

We’ve come to learn a couple of things about Calle Jarnkrok.

In his first season with the Maple Leafs after signing a four-year, Us$8.4-million contact in free agency last July, the 31-year-old has established himself as one of the club’s more industrious forwards in all areas.

And in his dealings with the media, Jarnkrok doesn’t waste words.

Jarnkrok has scored a career-high 17 goals and tied his career best with 35 points, yet those accomplishments won’t give him more than a passing thought.

“I don’t think about that,” Jarnkrok said in Ottawa late on Saturday night after scoring two goals in the Leafs’ 5-4 win in a shootout against the Senators. “I’m here to win hockey games, try to focus on that, not on (individual statistics).”

What Jarnkrok has been doing, however — and it’s been ramping up as the regular schedule winds down — is giving coach Sheldon Keefe more consideration to use him in the top six once the playoffs start.

Jarnkrok is getting on well with the club’s No. 1 centre, Auston Matthews, and there’s no reason to take him off that line for the time being — not when the chemistry is obvious, as seen in the two Matthews passes that Jarnkrok buried Saturday.

SPORTS

en-ca

2023-03-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281788518301651

SaltWire Network