Calle Jarnkrok signs 3-year contract with Brynäs IF

Calle Jarnkrok signed a three-year contract with Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League, the team announced Monday. Jarnkrok is returning to his hometown club, where he could play through the lineup and provide veteran leadership. It’s a true homecoming for Jarnkrok, who played his junior hockey with Brynas, graduated to the SHL for four seasons, before heading to the AHL.

The 34-year-old spent the past four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jarnkrok was used as a versatile forward throughout his first two seasons with the Maple Leafs, before injuries limited his effectiveness in 2025-26, and his productivity declined significantly throughout the 2025-26 campaign, where he posted six goals and eight points in 56 games.

“He missed most of (2024-25), came back, and was still being bothered by the injury,” Craig Berube said of Jarnkrok during the Leafs’ training camp last September. “Never really felt that good throughout the playoffs, either. He has had a full summer of training, he feels really good, and it’s noticeable. He looks really good to me, got a lot of jump in his step. We all know that Calle is a good player, but it’s about feeling good too and he feels good.”

Jarnkrok spent 13 full seasons in the NHL with the Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken before joining the Maple Leafs.

The veteran forward did not discuss a potential return to the Maple Leafs following the end of the season, and it’s more than likely that John Chayka and Mats Sundin expressed minimal interest in re-signing the veteran forward. Jarnkrok was praised for his versatility, tenacity and secondary scoring punch throughout his NHL career, qualities that ought to lend itself well as he enters a new phase of his career with a familiar club. Several Swedish outlets have listed Jarnkrok’s return as a dream signing, and we look forward to watching Jarnkrok’s homecoming tour from afar.