Oilers 2026-27 Season Previews: Mattias Janmark – The Hockey Writers –

The 2026-27 season is almost here, so let’s continue our Edmonton Oilers player preview series. The last player we looked at was Trent Frederic, and now we turn our attention to another struggling forward.

Mattias Janmark had an injury-riddled 2025-26 season, playing just 43 regular-season games. He underwent surgery in March and missed the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. When healthy, he was as unproductive as it gets. He recorded a putrid one goal and eight points with a minus-8 rating, averaging 11:51 per game. That was the lowest average ice time of his career.

While he should be fully healed from his injury and come to training camp at 100 percent, does he still have a spot? Let’s take a look at this upcoming season and see if he can be a contributing member of the bottom six.

Worst Case Scenario

The worst-case scenario is that Janmark will continue to provide zero offence as he has for most of his Oilers tenure. The Oilers need bottom-six contributors, and Janmark hasn’t been that. They desperately need more offence from him.

He provides the most value on the penalty kill, but when he was healthy, the Oilers were among the worst penalty-killing units in the league. Janmark’s last game of the season was on Feb. 25, and until that point, Edmonton was 25th in the league on the penalty kill at 77.0 percent. He was on the ice for one goal for and 10 goals against in 64:19 of shorthanded ice time, including an assist. While he wasn’t terrible on the penalty kill, he needs to be much better, especially considering the lack of offence he provides. He’s a fine player, but the Oilers should have higher standards. He’s not dangerous when he’s on the ice, and the bottom six needs contributing members under this new coaching regime.

His 5-on-5 numbers were putrid last season. When he was on the ice, the Oilers got outscored 18-8, and his advanced metrics were all under 50 percent. He was a net negative and didn’t help generate positive momentum. At this point in his career, he is who he is. There’s no reason to believe that his output will magically improve, even with a new head coach. His worst-case scenario is far more likely to play out than his best-case scenario.

Could a Trade Be Imminent?

Janmark seems to be on the outside looking in ahead of training camp. Realistically, six forwards are competing for two spots in the opening-night lineup, and the veteran winger is in that mix. Max Jones, Josh Samanski, Colton Dach, Isaac Howard, Mathieu Joseph, and Eduards Tralmaks are also in that group. Therefore, it may be time to move on from the Swedish winger and find him a new home. He’s entering the final season of his three-year deal, with a $1.45 million cap hit.

If he’s dealt, that could provide an opportunity for a younger player to step up and seize the moment. The organization has prioritized youth, so trading an unproductive 33-year-old winger shouldn’t be a negative. They have players ready to fill that spot who will bring more to the table than Janmark did.

Best Case Scenario

Honestly, the best-case scenario would be to find a trade partner and recoup some assets. They won’t get much for him, but a late-round pick to save $1.45 million on the salary cap would be a good trade-off. There’s already a lot of competition in the forward group, so he might not have a spot. Therefore, trading him now might be the best move.

However, if he stays, he must contribute more offensively and help the struggling penalty kill. He scored 10 goals in his first year with Edmonton in 2022-23 in 66 games, while registering 25 points. He was also a plus-9 that year and has been a minus-14 since. It’s hard to imagine him scoring in double digits at this point in his career, but that would be the best-case scenario. Even if he scores five to eight goals, paired with a top-15 penalty kill, that would be a successful campaign,

What should we expect from Janmark this season? Keep following The Hockey Writers as we continue the Oilers’ player previews in preparation for this campaign.

Advanced stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.