Blue Jackets re-sign BJORKSTRAND
Pale Dragon celebrates
On Sunday, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced that they had signed restricted free agent Oliver Bjorkstrand to a three year contract.
#CBJ Oliver Bjorkstrand will make $2.5 million per season w new deal.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) July 15, 2018
GM Jarmo Kekalainen said:
“Oliver is a gifted player with a tremendous shot and scoring instincts who has improved steadily during his first three seasons as a pro,” said Kekalainen. “He is just scratching the surface of the type of player he can be and we believe he has the potential to be a dynamic offensive player for our club.”
UNDERSTATEMENT, IMHO
BJORKSTRAND finally broke through as a full time NHLer this season, playing in all 82 games and accumulating 40 points. His shooting percentage dropped to 6.7, but if he can get that up - and if he plays second line minutes - I could see him taking another step forward this season and getting over 20 goals.
If he develops like I think he can, that $2.5M cap hit will be a steal.
With this signing and Ryan Murray accepting a qualifying offer yesterday, the Blue Jackets have re-signed all 3 of their pending restricted free agents.