Mark Jankowski embraces expectations of being Penguins' No. 3 center

The third-line center role in Pittsburgh is a unique assignment in the NHL considering the luminaries who usually occupy the pivots on the first and second lines.

That was made clear to Mark Jankowski when he signed with the Penguins on Oct. 9.

Management doesn’t expect him to be Jordan Staal or Nick Bonino.

But it does hope he’ll be far more effective than Nick Bjugstad or Derrick Brassard.

And everyone involved would like Jankowski to be much better than the player he was in a disappointing 2019-20 campaign that saw him be a healthy scratch for 13 regular-season games with the Calgary Flames.

Especially Jankowski.

The considerable opportunity and the grand expectations of being the Penguins’ No. 3 center are what appealed to him as he sought a course correction for his career.

“Last year didn’t go as I wanted to,” Jankowski said during a video chat with media Sunday. “Pittsburgh has a good track record of bringing guys in and really putting them position to succeed. Just talking with the coaching staff and everything, I felt like they valued me and I could come in here and work and push for a good spot. I think I can come in and help this team win.”

The Flames thought he could help them win when he was selected in the first round (No. 21 overall) of the 2012 draft. And he showed he was able to make significant contributions in his first two full NHL seasons of 2017-18 and 2018-19, reaching double-digit goal figures while largely inhabiting a bottom-six role.

But things bottomed out last season. Appearing in 56 games, he had only seven points (five goals, two assists). In addition to being out of the lineup so frequently during the regular season, he was a healthy scratch for five of the Flames’ 10 postseason games.

That prompted the Flames to not extend a qualifying offer to him as a restricted free agent and allowed him to walk as an unrestricted free agent. The Penguins scooped him up on a one-year contract for $700,000, the NHL’s minimum salary.

Skating between Jared McCann on the left wing and Brandon Tanev at right wing, Jankowski professes he has the attributes worthy of inhabiting a demanding deployment as the Penguins’ third-line center.

“Ever since probably my college days, I really took pride in being a good 200-foot forward, at five-on-five and being good on the (penalty kill), being strong and hard on the draws and in battles in your own zone,” the 26-year-old said. “Trying not to cheat the game. When you’re doing things the right way, especially in the (defensive) zone, you stop plays early and you’re able to transition to offense. Good things will happen that way. I just try to not cheat the game and play the right way.”

McCann, who has been pressed into centering the third line in the past when injuries dictated, likes the fit with Jankowski (6-foot-4, 212 pounds).

“Oh, he’s a very skilled player,” McCann said. “He’s a big guy. He does a lot of work in the corners. He really complements me and (Tanev) very well.”

Ever since Bonino departed as a free agent in 2017, the Penguins have struggled to find an adequate replacement with the likes of Riley Sheahan, Brassard, Bjugstad and others.

Ideally, that role helps provide balance to a lineup that includes superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as the top two centers.

“I’ve always had direct conversations with the people that have played in that position and what our expectations are as the coaching staff of players that fill that role,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “On our team, we’ve asked maybe that role to be different than what’s on other teams. It’s not just a traditional checking role that just kills penalties. When our team is at its best … our expectation of that role is that there is an offensive dimension to that role as well.

“We’re not asking those guys to score 30 or 40 goals for us. But we’re asking them to have that aspect of their (individual) game as part of our overall team game. It’s a unique position for our team. It’s a very important position for our team. I had that conversation with Mark before we signed him on what our expectation was of players that fill that role for our team in playing behind Sid and (Malkin).”

Jankowskiappears to have a firm grasp on the requirements for that casting.

“It’s someone that a 200-foot player and that’s good in the (defensive) zone and doesn’t cheat the game but can bring offense as well,” Jankowski said. “That’s how I view myself and my game. Someone that can start in the (defensive) zone and a good 200-foot player that can provide offense and not cheat where you’re getting caught with too many odd-man rushes against and stuff like that.

“That’s a role that I can play, someone that the coach can rely on all situations, and they can throw me out there against anyone.”

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