This week the Columbus Blue Jackets dealt Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Seattle Kraken yesterday. The deal was a complete cap dump and while the fans weren't happy, neither was Bjorkstrand.
Here you see Bjorkstrand like a prominent YouTuber, Nasher's comment about the Blue Jackets getting fleeced for picks.
The GM had been put in a bind these past two weeks, as they re-signed Patrik Laine, picked up Johnny Gaudreau in free agency, and overpaid for Erik Gudbranson.
It seemed like Gustav Nyquist would've been the one moved, given that Oliver Bjorkstrand was drafted by the Blue Jackets in 2013, won a Calder Cup in the AHL with the Cleveland Monsters, the current Blue Jackets affiliate, and has recently been an offensive staple in the lineup.
Bjorkstrand finished the 2021-22 campaign — his seventh NHL season — with 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists) in 80 regular-season games with the Blue Jackets, setting career highs in goals, assists, points, power-play goals and power-play points.
Many Columbus Blue Jackets fans are sad to see him go, including Jarmo himself who quipped this was the ugly part of the business.
There's no doubt that Ron Francis is building something in Seattle and Bjorkstrand will make an immediate impact. It is also a reunion with Alexander Wennberg, apparently Francis likes ex-Blue Jackets now.
