Lightning trade acquisition hit with brutal injury update ahead of playoffs

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced Sunday that right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. The Lightning have three games left in the regular season, including one Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres, and it’s unclear if the 30-year-old will be ready for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Bjorkstrand suffered the injury in an overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. The Lightning forward came over from the Seattle Kraken in a trade before the 2025 NHL trade deadline.

“It’s tough because he’s really grown into his role with us, and hopefully we’ll have him back for the playoffs at some point,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said, via NHL.com.

Bjorkstrand has played in 18 games with the Lightning since the trade, scoring five goals and handing out four assists. For the season, he has 21 goals and 25 assists. This is the sixth season in his career in which he has hit the 20-goal mark, so this is a bummer of an injury blow for Tampa Bay right before the playoffs. His career-high mark came in the 2021-22 season when he scored 28 goals as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Lightning have 98 points on the season, and they’re currently tied for second with the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division and fourth overall in the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay is hoping to avoid a third straight season with a first-round exit, which came after three consecutive Stanley Cup Final trips. The first two of those visits resulted in hoisting the Stanley Cup.

This is the Lightning’s first season without franchise legend Steven Stamkos since he began his career in 2008-09. With Stamkos out of the picture as a member of the Nashville Predators, star Nikita Kucherov has continued to dominate, though his 116 points are well shy of the career-high 144 he put up last season. Kucherov and Co. are gearing up for the playoffs, but they may have to do it without Bjorkstrand.