The Rangers’ offseason got a lot of attention for the bigger swings, but one of the quieter additions might end up mattering just as much. New York gave Oliver Bjorkstrand a one-year, $4.5 million deal in free agency, and there’s a real case that he could end up being one of the most useful pieces on the roster.
Bjorkstrand is 31, right-handed, and brings a track record the Rangers clearly wanted in their forward group. He’s a six-time 20-goal scorer with 704 NHL games under his belt, and most of that work has come in a top-six role. If the season unfolds the way the Rangers likely hope, it’s not hard to picture him settling into a top-six spot by 2026-27.
That’s the upside. The concern is what happened last year in Tampa Bay, where his offense fell off hard.
Bjorkstrand finished with 12 goals, his lowest total since 2017-18, and 32 points, a career low. Only three of those goals came at even strength, including one against the Rangers in the regular-season finale, a 4-2 Blueshirts win on April 15.
Still, not everyone sees that as a sign of decline. Hart Levine of PuckPedia thinks the Rangers may have bought low on a player who can still deliver more than he showed with the Lightning.
“I really like the Bjorkstrand signing because I think he’s shown a lot more than what he did in Tampa, and he has the potential to really outperform that contract,” Levine told Forever Blueshirts on the Rink Rap podcast. “And then you either - if you’re a good team then you sign him [next offseason] and he’s part of the future, or if you’re a bad team, then you deal him and get an asset at the [trade] deadline. That contract makes sense.”
That’s the logic behind the move: if Bjorkstrand rebounds, the Rangers get a valuable scorer at a manageable price. If he doesn’t, they’re only tied to him for one year, and the cap hit isn’t crippling. Either way, it gives them flexibility.
There’s also a clear fallback if things don’t click. Sullivan could drop Bjorkstrand to the third line and move a younger player, like Will Cuylle, into a bigger role.
Cuylle has scored 20 goals in each of the past two seasons. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it would keep the lineup functional.
The numbers from last season suggest there may be more here than the raw goal total shows. Bjorkstrand spent most of his time in a bottom-six role with Tampa Bay, averaging just 10:31 of even-strength ice time.
His shooting percentage was 9.2 percent, the second worst of his career. Even so, his expected goal share at 5-on-5 was a respectable 50.42 percent, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Lightning were still outscored 33-26 with him on the ice at 5-on-5.
Before last season, though, Bjorkstrand had been one of the more dependable secondary scorers in the league. Two seasons ago, he scored 21 goals, 16 of them at even strength, while splitting time between Seattle and Tampa Bay.
That made it six times in seven years that he reached at least 20 goals, including the 21 he put up in 49 games during the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season. For years, he was the kind of steady, two-way forward teams like to slot into the middle of a lineup and trust.
Even in a down year, he still found ways to contribute. Bjorkstrand played 80 games, marking the fifth straight season he appeared in at least 79. He finished second on the Lightning with nine power-play goals and fourth with 14 power-play points, while averaging 3:08 per game on the man advantage.
That part of his game should translate well in New York. Bjorkstrand is expected to see time on the Rangers’ second power-play unit and could work his way onto PP1 at least occasionally. The Rangers were fifth in the NHL on the power play last season at 24.7 percent, and the additions of Bjorkstrand, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Sean Durzi should strengthen both units.
Durzi is part of the same broader conversation. The 27-year-old has two seasons left on a deal carrying a $6 million AAV, and Levine views that move through a similar lens.
“I think their [Vincent] Trocheck trade [with the Utah Mammoth] was very interesting because they got a really good defenseman and a pretty highly thought of prospect [ Cole Beaudoin ],” Levine explained..” So, that’s not necessarily taking a step back.
That kind of deal makes a lot of sense for them. If they miss the playoffs again this year and they’re bad, I think Durzi would have a lot of value at the [trade] deadline, right?”
That’s the tightrope the Rangers are walking. Bjorkstrand and Durzi both look like players who can help now without blocking the next wave. That’s the sort of move that can work if the season goes one way, and create options if it goes another.
As Levine put it: “They made some moves that are savvy and have a chance to work out. So, maybe that do have a plan where it’s a little bit of buying, a little bit of selling,” Levine said.
“Let’s see what we have this year. But to me, it will really be determined this year.
If they’re not a playoff team this year, even if they’re close to making the playoffs, and you try and retool again on the fly, that’s where you get into some risk.”
For now, the Rangers are betting that Bjorkstrand still has plenty left. If he finds his old scoring touch, that $4.5 million deal could look like a steal.
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