SEATTLE — Some needed firepower was again added by the Kraken on Friday when the team acquired 28-goal-scoring Columbus Blue Jackets winger Oliver Bjorkstrand for a pair of 2023 draft picks.
Bjorkstrand, 27, a 6-foot, 177-pound onetime Portland Winterhawks junior product, is coming off a season in which he scored a career high for goals and in points with 57. In return for the Denmark native, the Kraken sent the Blue Jackets a third- and fourth-round pick next summer.
“We’re excited to welcome Oliver to our organization,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis said in a release. “He’s coming off of a career year offensively playing top minutes in Columbus. His creativity and hockey sense will be good additions to our forward group.”
The move comes nine days after the Kraken signed free agent Colorado Avalanche winger Andre Burakovsky to a five-year, $37.5 million deal and adds some badly needed offensive production. His goals and points totals were more than any other Kraken player had last season.
Bjorkstrand’s breakout season was preceded by a 2010-21 campaign in which he also scored 18 goals in just 56 games. He has four years remaining on a five-year contract signed in January 2021 that averages $5.4 million annually.
With the move, the Kraken now have just over $5 million in additional salary cap space remaining for next season.
