Mattias Janmark’s Absence Could Open an Oilers' Door

There are players whose absence immediately gets everyone's attention. Connor McDavid misses a game, and people start asking what the Oilers are going to do. Leon Draisaitl gets hurt, and suddenly the entire lineup has to be rearranged.

Mattias Janmark isn't that kind of player. But that doesn't necessarily mean his absence won't matter.

Janmark isn't expected to participate in the Oilers’ training camp as he continues to recover from surgery to address a chronic injury. On the surface, his regular-season numbers from last year don't exactly make you panic. One goal and eight points in 43 games aren't numbers that jump off the page.

But players like Janmark don't always show up particularly well on the scoresheet. Their value tends to show up somewhere else.

Sometimes You Notice a Player Most When He's Gone.

Janmark has spent much of his career doing the sort of work coaches appreciate, and fans occasionally overlook. He can kill penalties. He can play down the lineup. He can move around when injuries force changes. He understands his role and generally doesn't need to be the centre of attention.

Those players can be more important than they appear.

The Oilers are going into this season with plenty of interesting questions about their forward group. Who plays in the top six? Can Kasperi Kapanen hold his job beside Leon Draisaitl? How quickly will younger players such as Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard become important parts of the lineup? Janmark's absence at camp could give Edmonton another opportunity to find some answers.

Somebody Else Gets a Chance with Janmark Out.

Training camp isn't simply about getting ready for opening night. It is also where jobs become available. If Janmark isn't there, somebody else gets his penalty-killing reps. Somebody else gets the chance to show he can play a responsible fourth-line role. Somebody else gets more preseason minutes.

That doesn't mean the Oilers are better without Janmark. Quite the opposite. But injuries have a funny way of speeding up decisions that teams might otherwise prefer to make slowly. Perhaps a younger player surprises the coaching staff. Maybe somebody who was expected to spend the season on the edge of the roster forces the team to keep him around.

And if that happens, Janmark's eventual return could create another problem.

The Oilers Might Have a Roster Decision Waiting for Them.

That's the part I find most interesting. If Edmonton discovers that another player can do some of the things Janmark does while also providing more offence, what happens when Janmark is healthy again?

A player doesn't necessarily lose his job because he gets injured. But NHL teams don't always wait patiently for things to return to normal. If somebody else takes advantage of the opportunity, the lineup changes. Janmark's injury isn't a crisis for Edmonton. But it might create an opportunity.

And sometimes those small opportunities are how an NHL roster quietly starts to look different.