Calle Jarnkrok signs three-year deal with Brynas after 13 NHL seasons

Calle Jarnkrok signed a three-year contract with Brynas IF of the SHL on Monday, ending a 13-season NHL career that included the last four years with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The club said the deal runs through the 2028-29 season.

The 34-year-old center posted six goals and eight points in 56 games last season, playing out the final year of a four-year, $8.4 million contract that carried a $2.1 million cap hit.

According to tsn.ca, the signing comes roughly nine months after Jarnkrok's agent denied reports of a verbal agreement with Brynas. "In light of Aftonbladet's article, Newport Sports can deny that Calle Jarnkrok has a verbal agreement with Brynas for next season," Filip Andreason said in December, in a translation published by TSN.

A second-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2010, taken 51st overall, Jarnkrok totaled 143 goals and 316 points in 774 career NHL games with Nashville, Seattle, Calgary and Toronto.

He is returning to the club where he came up, having played four seasons with Brynas before moving to North America in 2013. According to swedenherald.com, Jarnkrok won a Swedish championship with Brynas in 2012 and a World Championship gold medal with Sweden in 2013.

Brynas sports director Johan Alcen, in a translation published by Sweden Herald, said Jarnkrok "comes home motivated and with his enormous winning mentality he will be a strong and important contributor to our ambition to establish ourselves as a top team in the SHL."

"I'm very happy to be back in Brynas and it feels fantastic that it's now finished," Jarnkrok told the club's website, per the same translation. "Now I'm looking forward to getting started, meeting the team and playing in front of all the Brynas fans in the stands again."

Brynas has brought in former NHL players in recent seasons, including forward Jakob Silfverberg and center Nicklas Backstrom, who spent his NHL career with the Washington Capitals and signed a one-year deal with an option for a second year in July 2025.

The SHL season begins September 19.