{"id":640138,"date":"2026-05-13T07:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/640138\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T07:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:24:13","slug":"seamless-fit-makes-jankowskis-extension-an-easy-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/640138\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Seamless Fit’ Makes Jankowski’s Extension An Easy Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of course, making NHL history by scoring on his first four\u00a0shots<\/a> with the team surely\u00a0didn’t hurt, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was obviously a great start. Getting a couple in that first game right away also took away some nerves,” added Jankowski with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Acquired with the intention of adding size and stability down the middle of the team’s lineup, Jankowski’s goal-scoring pace has understandably returned to Earth. But the Hamilton, Ont. native continues to thrive throughout a variety of roles, becoming exactly what the team hoped he’d be when they swung the deal last season.<\/p>\n

“Ever since he’s showed up on the scene, all he’s done is play great and done his job,” said Canes Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We’ve used him everywhere. He’s had to kill penalties, and power play, wherever you throw him into, he’s done his job really, really well. It’s kind of an easy extension. An easy guy to continue playing for us.”<\/p>\n

That versatility earned Jankowski 68 games in the lineup during the 2025-26 regular season, his most in a single season since 2018-19. And while his game is built more on nuance and structure rather than production, he still recorded his third-highest point total and buried three game-winning goals along the way.<\/p>\n

“I feel like my game jells well with how Rod and the coaches want to play and how the rest of the team plays,” he said. “We play such a great system and everyone plays the same way. We play hard, and it\u2019s a fun team to be a part of, so I think just to add my skill set to that team, it\u2019s just been a real great fit.”<\/p>\n

The $1.85 million he’ll be taking home over the next two years is a nice perk for the long-time pro, adding a seventh digit to his annual salary for the first time since 2020. But years of navigating life bouncing between the\u00a0NHL and AHL\u00a0have given Jankowski a grounded outlook on his career, regardless of what his paycheck says.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The salary raise) definitely feels nice, it definitely feels like all my hard work has been rewarded a little bit, but you definitely don\u2019t want to get complacent. That\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been through a lot, I\u2019ve seen a lot, been to a lot of different organizations. I\u2019ve been up, I\u2019ve been down, and I think that\u2019s something I can always carry with me, to never get complacent,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Just keep pushing forward, keep working, keep your foot on the gas. It definitely feels nice to get that deal and feel like you were rewarded a little bit, but [I\u2019m] not taking anything for granted and not getting complacent, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Of course, making NHL history by scoring on his first four\u00a0shots with the team surely\u00a0didn’t hurt, either. \u201cIt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-640138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}