Climbers need tethers. Acrobats need safety nets. Maple Leaf head coaches need Calle Jarnkrok.

In a salary cap world where there is little opportunity to address every single need on the Leafs in a meaningful way, Calle Jarnkrok has spent the last couple of seasons as the resident “Swiss Army knife” player who shows up to address the little needs that come up in Toronto’s lineup. Like a Swiss Army knife, Calle Jarnkrok is never the ideal solution, but as injuries come up, prospects/signings don’t pan out, or other players slip into a slump, Jarnkrok has been a key part of keeping the Leafs afloat. That’s why it is probably time to formally acknowledge that situation and head into the year with no set plans for Calle Jarnkrok.

In the past there has always been an attempt to initially slot Jarnkrok in somewhere. He’s either going to be David Kampf’s new Engvall, or the guy who plays two-way hockey on the Max Domi line, or the guy who helps Fraser Minten adjust to the NHL. Nope. No more of that. The best play is that Craig Berube comes into training camp with 4 or 5 lines that he truly wants to test out, and has Calle Jarnkrok taking rushes with a pair of strong AHL options that are almost certainly Marlies bound. Trust that Jarnkrok will find his place later on.

Last season in his 600+ 5v5 minutes, there was some initial consistency to Jarnkrok’s linemates. He played consistently with Max Domi and Nick Robertson in the role defined above before he moved into his more familiar lineup card rover responsibilities. He found himself playing with absolutely everyone other than Ryan Reaves, but even that could stem more from when Reaves’ injury occured and when Jarnkrok’s injury began, not necessarily a conscience effort to keep them apart.

For the most part, Jarnkrok proved that he is useful with anyone other than David Kampf, which may be unexpected but there is now a couple of seasons worth of evidence that supports not playing these two together.

While the numbers with Marner and Knies also leave something to be desired, Jarnkrok is a versatile option that doesn’t need to be pinned down and there is a lot of benefit to the Leafs in that regard, allowing Berube to optimize his top six forward group, put a plan in place for at least exploring what Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan can do in the NHL, and determine what the team has in players like Bobby McMann, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and Connor Dewar. Jarnkrok being on the sidelines for that is a plus and there should be comfort that when does get moved into a lineup spot, he’ll be a solid Plan B.

Going into training camp with Calle Jarnkrok in no fixed address also allows Toronto to take the preseason as an opportunity to revisit Calle’s potential at centre. Age may be a hinderance to this idea, but before Toronto both Calgary and Seattle explored the idea of Jarnkrok up the middle and his early days in Nashville saw him playing that role with regularity as well. Sheldon Keefe didn’t seem interested in exploring this beyond the most limited usage, but it will be interesting to see what Craig Berube brings back to the table.

The last question is what becomes of Jarnkrok if the Leafs don’t in fact need a Plan B? Well… it seems likely that there will be an almost immediate need for good depth and that’s what Jarnkrok should be able to provide. That said, if the Leafs are comfortable enough with their lineup, and feel they have other depth they can tap into, Jarnkrok’s $2.1M cap hit is something the Leafs may be able to move on from as Calle will be a usable asset to someone in the league and Toronto can benefit from that cap space. It’s highly unlikely that would be the case, but he is one of the few players Brad Treliving can look to for cap relief.

While never the most exciting player to think about, Jarnkrok may be the key to the Leafs trying exciting things and he will likely quickly become a favourite of Craig Berube because of it.