It’s been a busy offseason so far for New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury, who acquired scoring forward Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights and locked him up to a massive extension.
Not only did Drury acquire goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round pick and prospect winger Kalle Vaisanen, but he’s also now added more offense to the club to help offset the loss of Vincent Trocheck, who was traded to the Utah Mammoth.
The Rangers have signed Oliver Bjorkstrand, according to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman.
The New York Rangers Have Signed Forward Oliver Bjorkstrand
Additional details have since been leaked, and it’s a one-year contract worth $4.5 million, per Puck Pedia.
Bjorkstrand arrives in the Big Apple hoping to help offset some of the offensive production that was lost with the trade of Trocheck to the Mammoth, as he had four straight seasons of at least 20 goals before this most recent campaign.
He was taken with the 89th overall pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2013 NHL Draft while playing for the Portland Winterhawks of the OHL, and would eventually make his debut in the 2015-16 season, scoring four goals with four assists in 12 games played.
Finally becoming a full-time regular in the NHL by 2017-18, he would go on to set a new career-high in goals scored with 23 in 2018-19, helping Columbus to a stunning first round sweep of the favored Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. While he and the Blue Jackets would be eliminated by the Boston Bruins in the next round, he contributed two goals and three assists in 10 postseason games.
He would play several more seasons in Columbus before being traded to the Kraken in 2022 in exchange for third-round and fourth-round picks in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Continuing his career with the Kraken, he would score four goals with four assists during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, helping the Kraken upset the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the opening round before falling to the Dallas Stars in seven games in the subsequent round.
The Kraken later included him in a three-team trade that sent him, Kyle Aucoin, Yanni Gourde, and a fifth-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Seattle’s return included Mikey Eyssimont, two conditional first-round picks, and a second-round selection, while the Detroit Red Wings picked up a fourth-round pick in exchange for retaining 50 percent of Gourde’s salary.
So far through the first 704 games of his NHL career, he’s scored 184 goals with 232 assists for 416 points. He’s also added 10 goals with 10 assists in 48 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He’s also represented Denmark on the international stage.
The New York Rangers Traded Vincent Trocheck To The Utah Mammoth
The Rangers and GM Chris Drury are going to be counting on Bjorkstrand to help offset some of the offensive production that departed with the trade of Trocheck on Wednesday to the Utah Mammoth, bringing an end to his tenure with the club that started with a seven year contract in 2022.
New York Rangers Sign Former 28-Goal Scoring Forward