The Vegas Golden Knights acquired winger Mattias Janmark from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a second round pick in 2021, as well as a third round pick in 2022. The Golden Knights also received a fifth round pick in 2022. The San Jose Sharks also received a fifth round pick from Vegas for retaining salary to help broker this deal.
The 28-year-old forward is a five-year veteran who signed with the Blackhawks this past offseason. He spent the prior four seasons with the Dallas Stars. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Red Wings with the 79th pick of the 2013 draft.
With 128 points through 338 regular season games in the NHL, Janmark is more of a two-way, Swiss Army Knife-type of player that can fit throughout the lineup. This season for the Blackhawks, he has spent time on every line, providing something different for every unit. He has also seen time on both special teams units. To that point, he has four goals and seven points on the power play this season, as well as a shorthanded goal. Through 41 games with Chicago this season, he has 10 goals and 19 points while averaging over 16 minutes of ice-time a night.
The Golden Knights are currently in second place in the Honda West Division. This move is one that should help them round out their forward lines and give them necessary depth as they enter the home stretch of the season. Janmark could very well spend some time on both of Vegas’s special teams, though at a reduced role from the one he had been playing with the Blackhawks.
The Golden Knights still have a pick in both the second round in 2021 via the New Jersey Devils, and the third round pick in 2022 via the Vancouver Canucks. The fifth round pick they sent to the Sharks was originally the Buffalo Sabres’, which was acquired for defenseman Colin Miller in 2019.
The Blackhawks sit just outside the playoff picture in the Discover Central Division despite a season that has seen Chicago perform better than initial expectations. This move gives them a second pick in the second round of this year’s draft, as well as an additional third in next year’s draft. With the Blackhawks organization announcing during the offseason that they were going to be rebuilding this season, a move like this involving Janmark, as well as their other pending free agents, was almost always going to happen.
For the Sharks, this move marks the second time ahead of this year’s trade deadline that they took on salary to “buy” an additional draft pick. They also retained salary in the deal that sent Nick Foligno to the Toronto Maple Leafs and acquired a fourth round pick in that transaction. This move replaces the Sharks’ fifth round pick in 2022, which they traded to acquire goaltender Devan Dubnyk from the Minnesota Wild. The minor-league player included in this deal, Nick DeSimone, was included and heading to Vegas to even out the money San Jose took on in this deal.