Just minutes after announcing the team has signed forward Patrik Laine to a four-year contract extension, the Columbus Blue Jackets also announced that they have acquired a 2023 third-round selection and 2023 fourth-round pick from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for forward Oliver Bjorkstrand. It was clear the Blue Jackets were going to need to get back under the salary cap after the Laine deal and this move clears $5.4 million off of their cap for the next four seasons.
Bjorkstrand was traded to the Kraken for just pennies on the dollar, but the fact Seattle was willing to take on his entire cap hit is a key takeaway here. As per Evolving Wild analytics projections, Bjorkstrand was projected to be the second-best player on the Blue Jackets next season (after Johnny Gaudreau). This is being considered a fantastic pick-up for Seattle. He is a play-driving two-way scorer and solid across the board in terms of other elements he brings to the game. He’s an excellent forechecker and can create shots, something the Kraken are going to need.
This is the cost of doing big business for the Blue Jackets, who spent over $18 million on two forwards in the past few days. If not for the Gaudreau and Laine deals, there wouldn’t have been a need to trade Bjorkstrand who scored 28 goals and have 57 points last season in 80 games.
The fact that Seattle was able to pick up the player for such a low cost shows just how stuck many teams are with their respective salary caps. If teams had money to spend, there would have been a lot more suitors for this trade.
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