Rangers sign forward Oliver Bjorkstrand to one-year, $4.5 million contract
The New York Rangers are adding some more depth on their wings, as they’ve signed Oliver Bjorkstrand to a one-year, $4.5 million contract.
#NYR sign Oliver Bjorkstrand to one-year deal at $4.5 million
Bjorkstrand was an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his five-year contract with a $5.4 million cap hit. He was ranked 30th on Matt Larkin’s trade board.
Based on what is reported so far, the contract comes with no bonuses or clauses, so he’ll earn his $4.5 million steadily throughout the season. He’ll take up 4.33% of the Rangers’ salary cap for the season, and will be a UFA once again at age 32 at the conclusion of the deal. His closest contract comparable is Andrei Kuzmenko, who signed a one year, $5 million contract earlier on July 1st.
In Bjorkstrand, the Rangers get an efficient scorer good for 20 goals and 45 points who also defends well in his own end. They’ll be able to deploy him in most spots in their lineup, although as we saw in his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Seattle Kraken versus his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he’s more effective in the top six than the bottom six. The contract also allows Bjorkstrand to bet on himself after his struggles with the Lightning, and potentially have a great year with the Rangers and cash in on one more big contract next year.
Bjorkstrand is coming off of the worst season of his NHL career, where he had just 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points in 80 games. It was his lowest point total since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2017-18, and the second-lowest goal total of his career after the 11 goals he scored in that 2017-18 season. His struggles continued into the playoffs, as he went pointless in four games.
The Rangers have been somewhat active this summer, as they also acquired Pavel Dorofeyev and Joonas Korpisalo via trades. New York has $7,857,143 left in cap space according to PuckPedia, and have six restricted free agents left to re-sign, highlighted by Braden Schneider and Vincent Iorio.
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