Mattias Janmark is the final piece the Vegas Golden Knights needed

Mattias Janmark has been the beating heart for the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights.

Mattias Janmark came right onto the scene for the Vegas Golden Knights after being acquired at the Trade Deadline, scoring one goal and two assists within his first five games. He has also been a big time contributor to the team’s overall success. Since his arrival, the team has been a perfect 6-0. Five of those six wins were also won by two or more goals.

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Giving up a Second-Round pick in this year’s Draft and a Third-Rounder in 2022 to the Chicago Blackhawks for Janmark, it seems as though Vegas has won the deal for the time being. Janmark has provided the scoring and chemistry the Golden Knights have been desperately searching for up and down their lineup.

In his first game versus the LA Kings, Janmark looked like he had been with the team since January. He first helped play the puck ahead off the boards, allowing Tomas Nosek to do what he does best and create a goal up front. Later in the first period, he charged towards goaltender Jonathan Quick, allowing Alex Tuch to toe-drag and score the second goal for Vegas.

His first goal in a Golden Knights uniform came in style and class. With less than two minute left in the game on April 21st, Jonathan Marchessault fed a beautiful pass in front of the crease, allowing Janmark to bank home the empty-net goal. This was Janmark’s first point on the night and Marchessault’s fourth.

With everyone on the Golden Knights seeming to mesh perfectly with Janmark, it begs the question everyone has been wondering since General Manager Kelly McCrimmon made the move:

How will Mattias Janmark benefit Vegas in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

Mattias Janmark allows the Vegas Golden Knights to create diversity

One of, if not the biggest benefit that comes from the Mattias Janmark trade is the amount of options Head Coach Peter DeBoer has on offense. When Janmark originally joined the team, it was presumed that he would find most of his production on Vegas’ third-line. However, this turned out to be wrong.

Janmark blended extremely well with the third-line scorers. Tomas Nosek, William Carrier, and Alex Tuch have all benefitted from Janmark’s presence. Tuch alone has scored three goals and one assist in the six games Janmark has been on the roster. Janmark has succeeded to the point where he has been promoted to the second-line

Within the past two games, Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson combined have scored three total goals and four total assists. Added together, this makes seven total points between the two.

Because Janmark has succeeded on the second and third-line, this gives Vegas the ability to plug-and-play him into different situations. If injury strikes or if Vegas is thin in offensive scoring, Janmark can slide right in and turn things back to normal. In the five games he has played, Janmark has also played three forward positions and has been key in the special-teams scheme. He makes for a perfect utility player that can do it all in the Playoffs.

More Fuel Added to the Fire

Its no secret that the Golden Knights are an offensive-minded team. This season, they have scored a total of 159 goals as a team, which is 21 goals more than the league average. Max Pacioretty, the team’s leading goal scorer, is currently 11th in the NHL for goals scored (22), while Mark Stone is sitting at 28th with 18 goals scored.

Mattias Janmark had 19 points (10 G, 9 A) in 41 games for the Blackhawks before being acquired by the Golden Knights. This alone shows that Janmark can produce, but when he’s added to a high-powered offense in Vegas, it’s a recipe for success.

Vegas is going to need all of the firepower they can get on offense for the postseason. They struggled mightily to get shots in the net versus the Dallas Stars last postseason. It also took a significant amount of effort to produce scoring against Thatcher Demko and the Vancouver Canucks. Janmark should help limit this issue, but it will ultimately come down to the quality of play during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Vegas Golden Knights were the first team in the NHL to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, there is still plenty of time to clinch the number one seed in the West Division, so don’t expect to see Mattias Janmark and the Knights slow their pace any time soon.