Shortly before the Toronto Maple Leafs took the ice for practice on Monday, Calle Jarnkrok was on the ice with skills and return-to-play staff and he was able to do some shooting and stickhandling.
It was notable progress after the Leafs forward sustained a broken knuckle on Jan. 26 during a team practice.
"Jarny's made progress but obviously it wasn't to the point where he could join us in full practice today," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Monday. "I think the target for him is closer to the weekend and into the next week."
Once Jarnkrok joins the club for a full team practice, they don't expect it will take many days for him to get ready given the nature of the injury and his ability to skate and work on his conditioning throughout his time off.
Where does Jarnkrok slot in?
At the time of publishing, the Maple Leafs are currently on a seven-game winning streak, their longest in over 20 years. He previously skated on the right side of Max Domi and Nick Robertson, but Domi has enjoyed a promotion to the second line. His addition should help the club on both ends of the ice. With Domi finding chemistry on a new line with Tyler Bertuzzi and William Nylander.
Jarnkrok could replace a player like Pontus Holmberg, who is exempt from waivers.
Fitting his salary cap hit from long-term injured reserve
Jarnkrok has a $2.1 million salary cap hit. According to Puckpedia.com, the Leafs have $2.9 million in cap space, so there should be no issues with fitting Jarnkrok back on the roster once he's ready to return to action.
The 32-year-old Swede has 10 goals and nine assists in 46 games this season.
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