A quick look at the numbers confirms that Calle Jarnkrok is an upgrade over Ilya Mikheyev at under half the price
After Ilya Mikheyev requested a trade last off season, the writing was on the wall for the Russian winger. It was almost a certainty from that point that he would be leaving the Leafs in free agency and looking for a larger role and more opportunity near the top of the lineup.
Sure enough, when free agency opened, Mikheyev quickly found himself a new home and a massive raise, inking a 4-year deal paying $4.75M per season with the Vancouver Canucks. For a player who just set a career high of 21 goals and 32 points, that's a massive payday. Clearly the Canucks value Mikheyev's speed and penalty killing ability and his agent, Dan Milstein, made sure not to include his client's multitude of missed breakaway opportunities in his highlight reel.
The Leafs replaced Mikheyev with Calle Jarnkrok, a 30-year-old Swede who has previously played for Nashville, Seattle and Calgary. Jarnkrok is a true swiss army knife, able to play all 3 forward positions effectively and, like Mikheyev, can kill penalties as well. His $2.1M AAV may have some fans dismissing him early, much like many did Michael Bunting last season, but Jarnkrok is the real deal and over the next 4 seasons, Leafs fans will come to realize that not only will Jarnkrok be able to replace Mikheyev - he will more than likely be an improvement for the Leafs.
Jarnkrok's career average in points, excluding his rookie season where he played just 12 games, is 29. This is an immediate upgrade over Mikheyev's average of 24 points. Admittedly, Mikheyev would probably have a higher average if he could stay off the injured list, but as we've seen with many players, that is a skill in and of itself. It's also worth mentioning that when the Predators went on their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017, Jarnkrok was a key part of their top 6. One thing that Mikheyev has failed to do in 3 seasons with Toronto is make an impact in the post season. Jarnkrok's playoff experience, coupled with his penalty killing ability and his career track record of putting up more points than Mikheyev makes it all the more likely that Jarnkrok will prove to be an upgrade over the outgoing Mikheyev, and at less than half the cap hit to boot!
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 3 | 579 ANSWERS A quick look at the numbers confirms that Calle Jarnkrok is an upgrade over Ilya Mikheyev at under half the price Will Calle Jarnkrok be a better fit for the Leafs than Ilya Mikheyev? | ||
| Yes | 330 | 57 % |
| No | 147 | 25.4 % |
| Show me the results | 102 | 17.6 % |
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