With a little less than a week until the start of the season, the CBJ have announced that they have extended Oliver Bjorkstrand. In contrast to the PLD signing, this one is a little more long term. He signed a 5-year contract worth $27M (a $5.4M cap hit per year). While he has suited up in the Union Blue for the past 5 seasons, he really started to see playing time in 2017-2018 when he skated in all 82 games. Here are his stats over the past three seasons:

Year; Games; Goals; Assists; Points (sorry for the terrible formatting)
2017-2018; 82; 11; 29; 40
2018-2019; 77; 23; 13; 36
2018-2019; 49; 21; 15; 36

His point totals have been consistently near 40 and goal scoring has accelerated. What sticks out to me is the increase in points per game average (ppg) and goals per game average (gpg) over this period. In 17/18 his ppg started at 0.49 with gpg at 0.13. Points per game slightly dipped in 18/19 to 0.47 while goals per game more than doubled to 0.30. Both stats saw an increase as his role increased (and the season shortened) in 19/20 with a ppg of 0.73 and gpg of 0.43. While increases like these year-over-year numbers are hard (almost impossible) to sustain, it is possible that we see him scoring a goal every-other-game (0.50 gpg average) in 2021. If healthy, that could mean 40+ goals from Bjork this season. Seems like a bit of a stretch, but would certainly make a big impact on this Columbus team that struggles to score.

A factor that may impact his numbers this season is the uncertainty around PLD. While he recently inked a 2-year extension there have been grumblings that he may have requested (demanded?) a trade and there are rumors that he could head to the Jets for Laine. Many have pointed out that WIN does not need another C, but with the combination of talent and youth, PLD would be hard to pass up.

Whatever may happen with PLD, hopes are that as long as he is in a Jackets jersey he remains engaged and productive. This will benefit the team (obviously) and his trade value and contract value in 2 year's time.

What is going on in these negotiations?

Two #1 centers drafted, two #1 centers re-signed to RFA contracts, both not happy post-negotiations. These negotiations were no-doubt unique, but it seems the outcomes were eerily similar. RyJo had only a small sample size and potential to negotiate with, while PLD came to the table significantly more established. Dubois has been a workhorse for this team, not missing a game, and scoring 20+ goals each season (technically 18 in 2020, but adjusted for 82 games it can be assumed he would have scored 2 more goals and in fact, he scored 4 goals in 10 playoff games in 2020...but who's counting). My expectation was high for the PLD contract this off season...like 7-years-$8M+-per-season-high. The problem with that isn't the term or the dollars, but the fact that he is a young man at the peak of his career toiling away in Columbus, Ohio. It happened to Rick Nash, who could have been a rock star in a large hockey market (and almost won a Cup with NYR). This could be a result of what he saw Panarin do when he left money on the table to head for a large market.

One good thing I can say about all this is that both sides have operated in a professional way, unlike what happened with Johansen. PLD hasn't really said anything to the press and will hopefully be fully committed to the team as long as he is here. And if everyone would remember for a moment, the Ryan Johansen debacle had a happy ending after all...Seth Jones. I'm not sure Jarmo could catch lightning in a bottle twice...

Game 1, January 14 @ Nashville

Good Luck and GO JACKETS!

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