Jankowski has ‘taken advantage’ of big opportunity with Hurricanes

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Mark Jankowski had days, weeks, even months not too long ago, wondering if he’d ever land a full-time role in the NHL.

The Carolina Hurricanes forward was a first-round pick (No. 21) by the Calgary Flames at the 2012 NHL Draft, a Canadian kid who was playing for a prep school in Quebec suddenly faced with massive expectations.

After five NHL stops accompanied by multiple stints in the American Hockey League, the 32-year-old found a home with Carolina after he was traded there from the Nashville Predators on March 7, 2025. Upon his arrival, he sat down with Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour.

“He brought me in and said, ‘Hey, we know what you can bring. Just play your game. We like everything that you do,” Jankowski told NHL.com. “It was just a fresh start. He’s been putting me in a lot of positions to succeed and has given me a lot of confidence in my game. So, I can’t have enough good things to say about him.”

At the time, Brind’Amour saw a player who just needed the right fit. Jankowski was playing in the bottom six and was a penalty killer but not providing much offense. Prior to the trade that season, he had nine points (four goals, five assists) in 41 games. He scored eight goals in Carolina’s last 19 regular-season games.

“You’ve got to have good players, but it’s also about opportunity,” Brind’Amour said. “Sometimes, guys have just never been given that much of an opportunity, for whatever the reasons. It just happens, right?

“Even here, sometimes he doesn’t get that opportunity, because we’ve got a pretty good team. All of a sudden, we’re down a couple of guys, and all of a sudden you get elevated, and then what do you do with that opportunity? You’re writing a story about it because what he’s doing with that opportunity.”

The Hurricanes lost forward and captain Jordan Staal six games into this season for 1-2 months because of a tear in his calf. Jankowski was promoted to the third line after the injury and scored in his first game there. He played 15:48 in a 4-1 win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 11, including 2:49 short-handed. It was his fourth straight game with a goal during a streak that lasted six games.

Jankowski has eight goals in 14 games after a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday. He’s playing in all facets for the Hurricanes; he entered averaging 14:38 of ice time per game, including 2:22 short-handed and 1:05 on the power play. Jankowski centered a line between Taylor Hall and Seth Jarvis on Thursday; Hall returned after missing nine games with separate upper-body injuries.

Carolina is 9-2-1 without Staal, its unquestioned leader who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, helping the Hurricanes win their first championship since 2006.

“Jordo’s a huge part of our group on and off the ice, obviously,” Jankowski said. “Conn Smythe last year, everybody knows what he can bring. Losing him is huge, and it’s never going to be just one guy filling in for him. I have confidence in my abilities to whatever the coach asks me, I think I can provide it. Right now, that’s my job and I’m just trying to do it to the best of my abilities.”

This is how it was supposed to go for Jankowski from the very beginning, a big forward (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) capable of contributing in all three zones. After being drafted by the Flames, he headed to Providence College and became an All-American under coach Nate Leaman.

In his senior year at Providence, Jankowski led the team with 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists) in 38 games, a 13-point jump from the season prior.

“He kept growing,” Leaman told NHL.com. “He came in at 6-2 ½ and 168 (pounds). He was just like a toothpick, and he left at like 6-4, 208. It was really more about him growing and maturing with his body. He always had the mind, he always had a good stick, but it was tough for him. He played wing that first year, he played center every other year.

“I think his senior year, he had a lot more swagger with the puck. He knew when he touched it, he had a chance to score. He was 6-4 and strong at that point and had a pretty dominant year in college hockey.”

Leaman and Jankowski stay in touch to this day.

“He was texting me all through the Stanley Cup parade (in June),” Leaman said. “He’s always remembered where he comes from and stuff. For me, it’s just more how he’s handled the adversity through his career. I saw a 17-year-old kid that got drafted in the first round, and just what all that brought -- all the pressure, from a Canadian team, the pressure that was brought with that, all the expectations that were brought with that -- a lot of people don’t see that side of the athlete. With Mark, that was really before a lot of development. He had to deal with a lot of expectations and a lot of adversity through his time. 

“You’ve really got to tip your cap to him, because he’s handled it and he keeps persevering. That’s what you’re proud of, just as much as all the scoring and things like that. Carolina gave him a crack, and he ran with it.”

Jankowski said, “That was a huge four years for me, personally and hockey-wise as well. “Nate has done a lot for me, being able to really teach me a full, well-rounded game, which I think has really helped me stick around here, honestly, for as long as I have.”

It was only three years ago at this time Jankowski was in the AHL, where he played 40 games for Nashville’s AHL affiliate in Milwaukee. In the 32 NHL games he played with the Predators during the 2023-24 season, he had 15 points (seven goals, eight assists).

And after also spending time in the AHL over the course of his career in Stockton, California (Calgary), and Rochester, New York (Buffalo Sabres), and also not finding his niche during brief stints with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sabres, doubt about his ability to land a full-time job in the NHL was at all-time high.

Fortunately, Jankowski’s better half, Rachel, was there for support when he needed it the most.

“She’s with me every day, and I’m dragging her around to a different city every year for a while there,” Jankowski said. “She’s my rock. She’s been with me throughout the whole journey, so to have her by my side and to be there every step of the way has been really special.

“There were some moments there where you never know what’s going to happen. You’re in the minors and you don’t know if you’re going to get back up again or whatnot. You just have to keep working, keep grinding and every day kind of getting better and thinking hopefully when you get that call, you’re trying to stay up for good.”

You also need the right fit. Carolina is home, and Jankowski isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Not on Brind’Amour’s watch.

“Since he came here, he’s been scoring goals and doing what we’ve asked him to do,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s been filling in; we’ve got Jordo out for a long stretch, and he’s taken some of his minutes.

“He’s been just a jack of all trades for us. I think sometimes going to a new place, you kind of reinvent yourself a little. That’s what we want anytime we bring anyone in -- just start fresh, show us what you can do. He’s taken advantage of that.”

He’s also doing it at a time when the NHL gets younger and faster seemingly by the minute. But in his 12th season of professional hockey, Jankowski is off to a flying start with the Hurricanes, who are atop the League standings with 28 points (13-3-2).

No Stanley Cup hangover here.

“Our team’s playing really well,” Jankowski said. “Everyone’s kind of rolling right now, getting chances. My linemates I’ve been playing with have been doing really well making plays for me. I’m getting the puck right now, and it’s just going in.

“Talking with some other guys, once you get that taste of victory, you just want to do it again. You go through the celebrations in the summer and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, that was just the coolest thing ever. I want to do that again.’”

First, the Hurricanes have 66 regular-season games still to play. They host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; HHN, CARNHL, CHSN) before boarding an overseas flight ahead of the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland, where they will play two games against the Seattle Kraken in Helsinki on Nov. 12 and 14.

“Super excited for the Finns, obviously -- (Sebastian) Aho, KK (Jesperi Kotkaniemi) and Jusso (Valimaki),” Jankowski said. “It’s awesome for them to be able to play in their home country. It’s going to be awesome. Just for us, it’s a great opportunity for some team building. It’s going to be really cool going over there. Really looking forward to it.”

It’s a long way from those bus rides in the minors and the seeds of doubt that were planted.

“It’s been a hell of a journey,” Jankowski said. “This summer, I was able to reflect a little bit, obviously after winning the Cup. For a while there, I never thought there was going to be a shot at that, so it was pretty special to keep grinding and power through.”