Normally, having just one goal on the season as the midpoint nears is a reason to raise a red flag.
But for Mattias Janmark, the offensive side of the equation doesn’t always add up to his more-immeasurables.
As far as offence goes, the Edmonton Oilers forward already has eclipsed his points total from a year ago, when he scored four goals and eight assists, before tying a career-best eight more points in the playoffs.
After 37 games this season, he has 14 points and is on pace to earn 31 points, which would stand as his second most since scoring 15 goals and 14 assists back in 2017-18 with the Dallas Stars.
The only drawback, of course, only one of those points has been tallied in the goals column heading into Friday’s game against the visiting Anaheim Ducks.
But given his efforts on an Oilers penalty kill that had trouble finding its footing earlier on this season, but has slowly been climbing back to respectability, it would be unfair to define Janmark by his offensive production alone.
“No. Not anymore, I would say,” he said, adding he doesn’t keep track of his own points throughout the year. “For sure, earlier in my career.
“It’s always nice to score goals, to have points. It gives you a little bit better confidence and better confidence can lead you to playing better. But I think what I’ve tried to get better at over the years is to have that not affect me and to play good even if those numbers are not there. So, I don’t look at them much at all.”
And after coming heartbreakingly close to the ultimate goal of hoisting the Stanley Cup last spring, after reaching Game 7 of the championship final against the Florida Panthers, personal numbers pale in comparison to the ultimate team goal, no matter where a player slots into the Oilers lineup.
There is, after all, more to hockey than simply scoring. And every role has to be filled.
At the same time, Janmark rose to the occasion on a third line alongside Adam Henrique and Connor Brown on a unit that became a bit of an offensive spark plug on the long playoff road this past season.
“Yeah, for sure. You’re trying to win hockey games as a team,” Janmark said. “So, for that to happen, you have to score goals and you have to limit goals. And we have some really good goal scorers, they’re not going to do it every night so you’re going to have to help out in that area.
“And I think the harder it gets, the more you’re going to need it the longer the season goes. But it’s a long year, and you try to be good at all the other things, too. That’s the non-negotiable when you’re not scoring and you’re not putting up points, you need to be good in other areas of the game.”
And sometimes other areas of the lineup, too, as it turns out.
This week, Janmark has been centering the third line between Kasperi Kapanen and Zach Hyman, who was moved off the top line to make room for Brown.
“Janmark’s overall game is exceptional at 200 feet,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “The one thing that might be missing is goal scoring. Everything else, points per 60 (minutes) five-on-five is among the best on our team. And he’s done everything defensively.
“Skates really well, especially right now, and he’s good at protecting the puck. Tremendous defensively, playing really well. Now you add a goal-scorer on that line with Hyman, we’ll see how it goes.”
Janmark moved over from his usual spot at third-line left wing, thanks to a versatility that allows the Oilers to have yet another option at centre, — alongside Henrique, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and, of course, Edmonton’s top guns in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — with Derek Ryan currently a healthy scratch.
“It’s different, for sure,” Janmark said of playing centre. “You kind of get into different situations and you have to take a little bit more responsibility in your own zone, down low.
“It’s a little different, for sure, kind of getting into it, I haven’t played (there) too much, it’s been a little back and forth. So, I think the more you play it, the easier it gets, and it’s nothing I haven’t done before.”
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On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge