The 2025–26 season has been a revolving door of long-term injuries. As soon as one player is healthy and set to return, another is shelved with an ailment. Sure enough, that trend is continuing even after a three week Olympic break. Adam Henrique has just returned from his injury, but one more player is likely to miss significant time, if early reports are to be believed.
Mattias Janmark was a late scratch from last night’s victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The initial rumbling was a long-term, chronic shoulder injury that needed rest. But Bob Stauffer hinted that it may require surgery, that would hold him out of the remainder of the season.
Janmark is in the second year of a three-year deal that sees him make $1.45M per season. He has one goal and eight points in 47 games this season.
How will this impact the Oilers?
Janmark’s role on the team has largely been a depth forward and penalty killer. Luckily, the Oilers have a plethora of players that they can utilize in this role, with a handful of high performing younger players currently on the Bakersfield Condors looking to make the jump to the NHL. One that stands out as a Janmark replacement would be Josh Samanski, who got his first taste of NHL action shortly before the Olympic break and would fit well in a bottom six role.
If anything, this injury opens some opportunity for players to step up and take the jump developmentally this season.
As for the penalty kill, the coaching staff has been adamant on increasing the usage of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl while shorthanded. And the return of Henrique will provide another option to eat up the remaining minutes.
With the trade deadline fast approaching, this may also give the Oilers a little bit of an LTIR pool to play with while trying to make trades work.
