Jarnkrok returned to his second-line role in his first practice on Monday and is expected to be in the lineup on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning after tweaking his groin, an injury that had been with him for a while.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a rotating cast of characters see time in a second-line left winger role this season, but it’s clear that Sheldon Keefe’s favorite player in that spot was Calle Jarnkrok.
“We’ve missed him and you can just kind of see it in the practice,” the Maple Leafs coach said of Jarnkrok on Monday. “It makes a difference to me having him out there and it’ll make a difference to our lineup as well.”
Jarnkrok said he’s been dealing with a groin injury since the team’s “first trip” and it had been getting worse since that time. That appears to be why his absence from the lineup was so sudden when the team announced the injury following his last game on Nov. 30 against the San Jose Sharks.
Now the 31-year-old forward “feels good” and provided he feels the same when he wakes up in the morning on Tuesday, he’ll slot right back in with John Tavares and Mitch Marner when the Leafs host the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Playing with those guys they make it easy for me,” Jarnkrok said. “I keep playing my game and work as hard as I can and get some pucks for those guys.”
Jarnkrok struggled to produce offensively this season, although his admission of tweaking his groin could explain a some of it. When he played his last four games with Tavares and Marner, he generated a goal and two assists in that span in what was his most productive stretch before he was shut down with the injury.
Although he has only taken part in one practice before playing, the Swedish forward has been skating with development staff in Toronto for the past week. Had the Leafs practiced during their two-game road trip in New York and Washington last week, the plan would have been for Jarnkrok’s to take part.
“He very much looks ready and he says he’s ready,” Keefe said. “So as long as he is ok in the morning we expect to see him back.”
The Maple Leafs signed Jarkrok to a four-year, $8.4 million contract this summer. He has five goals and nine points in 25 games this season.
Toronto is banking on Jarnkrok to recapture the spark he found with Marner and Tavares in those four games before his injury. He replaces Denis Malgin, who was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for forward Dryden Hunt.