Bjorkstrand's new Blue Jackets contract a testament to hard work

Rewind to late January, 2019, and there was a question of what was next for Oliver Bjorkstrand.
In his fourth NHL season, the high-scoring junior player was still trying to get to the next level with the Blue Jackets. Bjorkstrand had scored seven goals through 44 games that season for 28 tallies in his first 144 NHL contests and was still trying to find a permanent spot in John Tortorella's lineup.
Fast-forward two years and Bjorkstrand's world is a different place, and not just because of the pandemic. Bjorkstrand finished his 2018-19 season with 16 goals in his last 33 games, including a red-hot nine in the team's final 10 games. Then last year, he scored 21 in 49 games, a 35-goal pace over an 82-game season that makes him a first-line player for the Blue Jackets going into the 2021 season that begins Jan. 14.
And the fruit of that labor is a new five-year, $27 million contract Bjorkstrand signed with the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, a deal that will keep him in union blue through the 2025-26 season.

"It's very satisfying, right?" the 25-year-old winger said Wednesday. "You work hard and you try to improve your game all the time, and there's a lot of times where you might be tired but you keep grinding. I'm just very happy I had the opportunity to sign that kind of contact and set up my future. I'm very, very pumped about it and just looking forward to this season and having a good year with the team."
That type of success was always within Bjorkstrand, it just took some time to materialize at the NHL level. The third-round pick (89th overall) in the 2013 draft was one of the more dominant players of the past decade in the Western Hockey League, notching 50 goals and 108 points as an 18-year-old in 2013-14 and then one-upping that a year later with 63 goals and 118 points at age 19.
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Bjorkstrand then made his debut with the Blue Jackets in 2015-16 but spent most of the year with the AHL team in Cleveland, scoring 17 times in the regular season and adding 10 goals in 17 postseason games -- including the championship-clinching overtime goal -- as the Monsters won the Calder Cup.
That résumé all but screamed future NHL success, but it took until midway through two seasons ago for it all to click for Bjorkstrand, a mixture of experience and hard work finally paying off.
"It took a little while to understand how you need to play," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Wednesday. "Him and (head coach John Tortorella went through a process of getting him to understand what a 200-foot player is because he'd always scored wherever he's played. I think he's come a long way, but I think there are other levels he can get to.
"He's really developed nicely as a player in all areas of the game. He's a competitor and a good offensive player, and he's gotten so much stronger since he entered the NHL. It's been nice to see a driven player like that to constantly improve and get to where he wants to be at."
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Tortorella often credited an newfound battle level a year ago for Bjorkstrand's breakout season, and the eye test showed that the relatively slightly built winger had increased strength when it came to fighting for pucks and possessing them. Seeing Bjorkstarnd and his linemates cycle the puck around the offensive zone, pull it off the wall and create scoring chances was a common sight, and the advanced stats showed strong possession and scoring chance advantages for the Jackets at 5-on-5 when Bjorkstrand was on the ice.
All in all, it was a great season for the Denmark native, but the goal now is to be even better -- and maybe bring those impressive junior statistics back into view. Staying healthy would be a key, too, as an oblique injury and a broken ankle limited him last year to 49 of the 70 games the Blue Jackets played in the regular season.
"It's definitely my goal to work toward that," he said. "I thought last year was a good step. Of course, I wish I would have had a full season and maybe been able to put up 30 goals or so. I think I'm just taking steps every year. Also with more opportunity on the ice, ice time and all that will definitely help you too. So yeah, I'm ready for it and I believe I'm going to take even more steps so that's what I'm going to work toward."
Both Bjorkstrand and Kekalainen said the contract came together relatively quickly once the sides started to negotiate within the past month. Bjorkstrand had one year remaining on his deal before reaching restricted free agency and said he would have been fine playing this year without an extension, but he also said he had no reason not to put pen to paper once talks started.
"It's been good for me so far being here," he said. "I've established myself. I like my spot on the team and all that. I like the city. There's not much I can really complain about there. My first four, five seasons here in the NHL, we've been a playoff team, so I definitely can't complain about that.
"Looking to the future, I believe in the group and we always talk about we want to take that next step. I think we're close. So I'm just hoping for a bright future and I'm very happy about being a part of that."
The only issue Bjorkstrand might run into will be off the ice. He recently became engaged to his fiancée Jill, so the new contract might mean a bigger ring is in the offing. Either way, it's been a week to remember for the CBJ standout.
"It's been a big week for me and my future so I'm very excited and pumped, obviously," he said with a laugh. "Good timing."