Mattias Janmark Quiet Key To Vegas Golden Knights Success

It didn’t take long into his tenure with the Vegas Golden Knights to see the flexibility Mattias Janmark brings to the team.

After appearing on the wing in his first game, Janmark ended up centering Alex Tuch and Will Carrier when Tomas Nosek was unable to play the next game in Anaheim against the Ducks. He’s been able to move back and forth since, depending on who has been in and out of the lineup. It feels a lot like the role Nic Roy is able to play as well and gives Vegas incredible flexibility when choosing lines and matchups as well.

“He’s played really, really well for us,” said Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez. “He can do a little bit of everything. He can skate. He can shoot. He can make plays. He can play defensively. He can take draws… you name it.”

Mattias Janmark is not a name that blew anyone away when the trade was announced. But savvy, under-the-radar moves are the ones that shore up a really good team and push it over the top. It looks like Kelly McCrimmon could have brought in that one more piece that makes the Golden Knights as close to a complete team as they can be.

No doubt a big part of any team’s ability to win a Stanley Cup is depth up and down the lineup. Coming into the trade deadline the Golden Knights could have stood pat and no one would have really said much. But a good GM is always looking for ways to improve his team, even incrementally. McCrimmon knows that Cody Glass has not developed this year as hoped and really needs more time to find his game. So this move not only makes the VGK better and deeper now but allows future assets like Glass more time to develop for the future.

The fact that Mattias Janmark can play center or wing with either an attacking or defending style makes him incredibly flexible in what is often a fluid Golden Knights lineup. We’ve even seen him out on the ice in a few late-game situations trying to nail down a late victory. There’s no greater compliment to a player than that.

“He’s been very good,” said Brayden McNabb. “He seems like a very smart player, he’s got some good speed. When he has the puck he makes the play that he should make.”

Janmark himself downplays his transition to Vegas, saying ‘it’s been easy” because of the talent around him on the roster.

“When I went to Chicago, it took me about five games to really get my game going,” Janmark said. “Here, it’s… the luxury of having a great team and playing winning hockey. I’ve had every opportunity to find my game. The coaches… have been playing me more than I could ever ask for.”

“The hard part is to maintain it and to keep getting better.”