'It Will Definitely Be Different': Mark Jankowski Facing Former Team Just A Few Weeks After Being Traded

Mar 22, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Mark Jankowski (77) before a face-off against Los Angeles Kings right wing Quinton Byfield (55) and defenseman Brandt Clarke (92) during the third period at Crypto.com Arena. (Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images)

Tonight will be a bit of a weird one for Mark Jankowski.

The newest Carolina Hurricanes forward will be facing his former team, the Nashville Predators, tonight, a team in which he played 123 games across three seasons with and was still on just a little over two weeks ago.

"It will definitely be different, being it's been such a quick transition from one team to the next," Jankowski told The Hockey News.

"It's tough because you're lining up against guys you were going to war with not too long ago and now, all of a sudden, you're on the other side," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, who knows exactly what it's like to be traded. "That's the hard part."

The Hurricanes didn't get back from their California road trip until Monday evening, but Jankowski still managed to meet up with a few of those old teammates — namely Luke Evangelista, Marc Del Gaizo and Zachary L'Heureux — at Vivace in North Hills.

"I went out to dinner with a bunch of the guys last night and we were just joking around about how it felt like old times, like I never left because it had been such a short time," Jankowski said. "It was awesome to see those guys and I'll catch up with the rest after the game tonight."

The Canes acquired Jankowski for a 2026 fifth-round pick right at the NHL's trade deadline on March 7 and since coming to Carolina, he's been electric, with six goals (on just eight shots) in seven games.

"He's a smart player and he's really reliable," said Nashville coach Andrew Brunette. "Coaches all love him because he's reliable on both ends of the ice, can take faceoffs, can play on the power play or the penalty kill, can play up and down the lineup and he brings it the same way every night. Happy to see him have some success, just hopefully not tonight."

Playing as the fourth-line center, Jankowski has found some good chemistry with Eric Robinson and is providing some invaluable depth scoring.

"I don't really know how to explain it," Jankowski said. "The puck's just kind of finding me right now and I'm able to finish them. Playing with some great players and we have a really good team here."

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