Little Sweden gets bigger and bigger: Deep dive into the Calle Jarnkrok trade

Somewhat surprisingly, GM Brad Treliving came up big with another trade this season, as he acquired forward Calle Jarnkrok yesterday. Some Flames fans that aren't familiar with his game might be curious as to what type of player he is and what he has done in his career so far. So without further ado… here is a deep dive into the Calle Jarnkrok trade!

The Flames acquired the Swedish veteran from the Seattle Kraken yesterday, in exchange for a 2022 2nd Round Pick (FLA), 2023 3rd Round Pick, and a 2024 7th Round Pick. The Kraken also retained 50% of his salary (hence the 7th round pick being compensation). He’ll be a UFA this offseason. To make cap numbers work, the team also sent down F Adam Ruzicka. Swapping Jarnkrok for Ruzicka starting today, would give the Flames $712K in deadline cap space.

In 557 games played (508 with the Nashville Predators and 49 with the Seattle Kraken), he has 106 goals and 131 assists, for a point total of 237. But more importantly, he has 26 points in 49 games played for the Kraken this season. He is a solid two-way player, who can play on both ends of the ice pretty effectively. He’ll also be a savvy addition to the penalty-kill units.

The Flames add yet another right-handed forward (something they lack on the backend and just the forward core in general) who can chip in offensively and can also play some solid defence.

A hard-nosed two-way forward that can occasionally chip in on offence here and there. Just like the Tyler Toffoli trade, Jarnkrok has many ties within the team at the moment. For example, he is cousins with the Flames leading goal scorer Elias Lindholm and works out with Lindholm and goaltender Jacob Markstrom. This is the literal definition of a fit made in heaven. His defensive numbers are another factor as to what makes him stand out as a player and another reason as to why his game checks every box for the type of player that fits in coach Darryl Sutter’s system.

Along with that trade, “Little Sweden” just got a little bit bigger with this trade. Here are the current Swedish players that are in the Flames system:

GM Brad Treliving has really out-done himself this season. About a month ago, he said “the players are doing their job and now it’s time for me to do mine” and he’s certainly done that so far. Acquiring Tyler Toffoli and Jarnkrok in the span of a month and that being via trade is something I didn’t expect at all. But hey I welcome moves like these with open arms.

The Flames certainly aren't done though and they'll look to add a few more pieces at the trade deadline next Monday (most likely a depth defenceman). Jarnkrok is expected to arrive in Calgary sometime today and will be available to make his debut with the team on Friday against the Sabres. Looking forward to what he can do with the Flames down the stretch.

by Taranjot Vining