Dallas Stars: Mattias Janmark Not Named Finalist For Masterton Trophy

The Masterton Trophy finalists were announced on Saturday morning, and Mattias Janmark did not make the cut. While plenty of nominees have stories that fit the award well, it’s surprising to see the Dallas Stars forward not make the top three.

Mattias Janmark had a great 2017-18 campaign for the Dallas Stars. What made it even more special was the fact that he put it together after taking an entire year off.

In September 2016, it was announced that Janmark would miss the entire 2016-17 regular season due to osteochondritis dissecans in his knee. This rare and dangerous joint condition can sometimes lead to fatal results, so Janmark was shut down for the year after surgery to recover.

Following the procedure, he was given an 80 percent chance of fully recovering and being able to resume his hockey career. While those seem like good odds, resting your future on something that isn’t certain is scary to say the least.

No. 13 spent the entire 2016-17 season rehabbing so he could shoot for a return in 2017-18. And after a long process, he finally returned to the ice. Janmark was ready for game one of this past season and played an 81-game slate.

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But he didn’t just fill a spot in the lineup; he was easily one of the Stars’ best players. Dallas not only received a young and energetic spark from the 25-year-old, but they also had one of their best depth scorers back in complete form.

Janmark did not disappoint in his first season back. In just his second full year at the NHL level, he set new career highs in goals (19) and points (34). He served in a more extensive role as well, getting playing time on both the power play and penalty kill. He earned the trust of head coach Ken Hitchcock and turned into an effective piece for the Dallas lineup, skating almost 17 minutes per game.

He finished the season with 19 goals, which was fourth among all Stars players, and 34 points, which put him fifth in the Stars ranks. But if you were to take out Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, and John Klingberg (the Stars’ “big four”, in other words), Janmark would have finished first in both categories. Not too shabby for a guy that came to Dallas as an unknown prospect in a trade for an aging veteran (Erik Cole) during a lost season.

Seeing Janmark skate up and down the wings each game and use his speed and skill to outdo the opposition, create chances, and constantly provide an offensive edge was not only exciting, but also encouraging. Janmark showed no signs of weakness and looked as though he had never even heard of osteochondritis dissecans. That’s quite an impressive turnaround for a young forward still trying to prove himself in the league.

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His determination and resilience helped earn him a nomination as well. The Dallas Stars chose Janmark as their nominee for the 2017-18 Masterton Trophy. The award is given annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”

Fighting back from an injury where part of your knee dies just to get back to playing hockey seems pretty dedicated, right? And persevering through missing an entire season all while knowing that you may never play again can’t be a walk in the park, either.

“I just try to play my game and get back to where I was and play my hardest,” Janmark said in February. “I’m getting to play a lot this year, so that helps of course, and I get to play with good players. I haven’t really done anything special. Just trying to work on my game and play the way I know it.”

All of this determination and progress helped Janmark earn the nomination, but it didn’t go any further. On Saturday morning, the NHL announced that Brian Boyle, Roberto Luongo, and Jordan Staal had been chosen as the three finalists for the Masterton Trophy.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s point out that some of these candidates absolutely deserve this nomination. Boyle was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia during training camp but still fought his way into the lineup by Nov. 1 and missed only three games for the remainder of the season. Staal fought through a family tragedy in February when his daughter was delivered stillborn. He ended up only missing three games and came back to help the Hurricanes with their playoff push.

Those stories are absolutely deserving of a nomination and perfectly fit the description of the award. Each one went through a personal crisis or tragedy and emerged in order to keep their love for the game alive.

But the fact that he wasn’t chosen as a finalist for the award does not diminish Janmark’s story in any way. If anything, it highlights it all the more.

A little over a year ago, it was unclear whether or not Mattias Janmark would ever play hockey again in any capacity. Now, he’s putting the injury to shame and looks to be an influential piece of the Dallas Stars’ future on offense. There’s not much more that the Stars could ask for from the winger.

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Finalist or not, he still has a pretty unreal story that can serve as an encouragement to just about anyone. He did what he had to in order to get back to playing the game he loved.

At the end of the day, that fits the bill for the Masterton.