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Seattle Makes Big Trade - Acquires Bjorkstrand

July 22, 2022, 5:20 PM ET [22 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Seattle Kraken Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Recently I posted a blog about how Seattle should go after Evan Rodrigues in Free Agency as a way to upgrade their right side with a player who could be a useful top nine addition. Today, Ron Francis showed us that he had his sights set higher as he acquired Oliver Bjorkstrand for a third and fourth round pick in 2023.

This is a massive win for the Kraken. Bjorkstrand is a great 5 on 5 producer, coming off of his best season yet where he posted 28 goals and 57 points in 80 games. Bjorkstrand has four years remaining on his contract at 5.4 million a season and is currently only 27 years old. After signing Johnny Gaudreau and extending Patrik Laine to a 4 year deal worth 8.7 million a season, the Blue Jackets suddenly found themselves in cap trouble, nearly 6 million over the cap. Bjorkstrand was the victim of cap issues in this scenario, which is a huge win for Seattle.

Bjorkstrand might not have the same goal scoring strengths as Laine but in my opinion he is a far more complete player. This is a really ugly move for the Blue Jackets and suddenly Seattle has one of the stronger forward groups in the Pacific Division. Veterans like Gourde, McCann, Schwartz, Burakovsky, Bjorkstrand, and Eberle along with the youth infusion of Beniers and Wright makes this a really exciting group. Can Seattle actually make the jump to being a playoff team? It is still going to come down to goaltending for this club but regardless this is excellent news for the fanbase and the organization.
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