A year later, who wins the Bjorkstrand trade to Seattle.

 Looking back at the Oliver Bjorkstrand trade a year later and seeing which team won this deal.

So last offseason the Columbus Blue Jackets went out in the offseason and despite a lot of rumours that he would sign in Jersey or Philly, Gaudreau wound up signing with the Blue Jackets on a long term 7 year deal to be closer to home, so it was a major grab for a Jackets team who could use a superstar playmaker such as Gaudreau, but signing him made the Jackets have a overabundance of forwards and after signing him and Gudbranson, the Jackets had little cap space to work with, so they new they were going to have to move a forward with a bigger salary to free up a top 9 spot on the team and clear enough salary to become cap compliant, and they were able to do that but not with who everyone thought they would do it with, as a lot of people thought with him not playing well and in the final year of his deal at the time, a guy like Gustav Nyquist might be the most logical trade solution for Columbus, but it seemed like there were no takers so Columbus went and moved someone with term, as they would find a suiter for former and multiple 20 goal scorer Oliver Bjorkstrand in Seattle, as the Jackets moved him to the Kraken and were able to get a 3rd and 4th round pick in the 2023 draft back in the deal.

CBJ side: so for the Jackets it was a move that needed to happen after they signed Johnny Hockey to his 7 year contract. Now they not only needed to move a top 9 forward for cap reasons, but to also play some of their younger players who did well the previous year and to fit Johnny Guadreau into the top six, now the likely candidate a lot of people were talking about was Nyquist as he was in the final year of his deal at maybe a bit over priced cap hit of $5.5 Million dollars and he was coming off a rather productive season as well the year prior putting up 53 points, but it sounded like there wasn't much interest in him so they wound up moving Bjorkstrand instead which did surprise some people as Bjorkstrand was a proven 20 goal scorer on a longer term contract who was supposed to be a good middle six forward for them, and the return was even more underwhelming as they only got a 3rd and 4th round pick in return, so the trade on the Jackets side turned out to be pretty underwhelming, but what they did with those picks might soften the blow of this trade. 

The 4th round pick they acquired from Seattle was originally Winnipeg's and instead of moving that pick, they sed it in the 2023 draft and at where it stood #114 overall, the Jackets wound up taking Luca Pinelli with that pick which was a great use of that 4th round pick, as Pinelli who is a Center on the smaller side was projected to go in the late 2nd-early 3rd round and I thought he could've gone a bit higher in the 2nd round, but he falls to CBJ in the 4th round and he looks like a eventual NHL player, as Pinelli (playing with the Ottawa 67's in the OHL) has put up 11 goals and 16 points in the first 13 games of the OHL season and in a year or two I could see be a solid 3rd line player for the Jackets team and I could see him have middle six potential, so in my eyes this part of the deal was a great piece of work by CBJ. 

Danny Wild USA Today Sports 

The 3rd round pick meanwhile that they got from the Kraken was originally Calgary's and unlike the other pick, they wouldn't keep this one, as they moved that 3rd round pick to New Jersey this offseason in exchange for the signing rights to Severson and would promptly sign him to a 8 year deal with a AAV of $6.25 Million. So for the Jackets they were able to use the extra 3rd round pick they had in 23 thanks to this deal to get a much needed upgrade on the blueline, doing it like this gave them the extra year for Severson and meant they were able to sign him before he went to free agency and had offers from elsewhere, and even though they had injuries, their defensive play from the 22-23 season was non existent, so they needed a upgrade and Severson who is a good top 4 defensemen and could work on a 2nd pair and is more of a offensive D-Men fit the bill and to get him for only a 3rd round pick was a solid move by the Devils, so all in all from the Jackets point this was a decent trade. Now would they have liked to keep Bjorkstrand, I think the answer would be yes, but they had Gaudreau who would replace him in the lineup and then were able to turn a low return of a 3rd and 4th round pick into a potential middle six Center and solid top 4 offensive defensemen, and given how bleak this trade looked originally, I think the Jackets made out pretty well in this deal.

Seattle side: as for Seattle, this was a deal that they came our on top of as soon as the deal was made and I think if they could redo it they would still male this trade. Now after the teams inaugural season, they were looking to get better and add some more offense to the team so they went out and got Stanley Cup champ Burakovsky in free agency to work in their middle six and then this trade fell in their laps and I still think this was a fleecing by the Kraken. 

Now they gave up two picks in this trade, one a 3rd (Calgary's they acquired in the Jarnkrok trade earlier) and a 4th rounder (Winnipeg's they got from the Appleton trade earlier), and I don't think they were overly concerned about giving up those picks because, A) they still had all of their picks and they weren't trading their own draft capital and B) the Kraken not only had extra late round picks, but multiple extra 2nd round picks they got from prior trade, so giving up a 3rd and 4th wasn't too big of a deal for them and especially with who they got back in return. 

Ron Chenoy USA Today Sports 

Now Bjorkstrand was brought in by Seattle to fit in the middle six and provide some depth scoring like he showed he could do in Columbus, but I don't think anyone was anticipating how well and how quickly he would fit in with Seattle. Last year he played mostly on the 2nd line, sometimes on the 3rd and had a fantastic season, as he wouldn't do as good as his career season in CBJ the year prior, but had a solid 20 goals and 45 points last year which was his 2nd best point total and was extremely productive in the playoffs for Seattle having 8 points in 14 playoff games and has continued to do well this year starting with 10 points in 12 games for the Kraken this year as a solid 2nd line winger, so in my eyes this was not only a good trade for the Kraken in pure value getting a 20 goal scorer for a 3rd and 4th round pick, but also his fit with the team has been solid so far and he is still signed right now for this year plus 2 more at a $5.4 Million dollar AAV, so in my eyes the Kraken did well.

Final Thoughts on the deal, so in my eyes for the Jackets, as I said this was a deal that they needed to make and a deal that Seattle pounced on to help their teams offense, in my eyes I will give the Jackets a B- on this deal as I think it has developed into a much more solid trade then it was originally as they got from this deal a top 4 defender and a potential middle six forward which I think makes this deal a lot better then I originally though for CBJ, while I am giving Seattle a A grade on the trade because they had a plethora of draft picks at their disposal and weren't going to use all of them, and not only was the trade itself good, but the fit has been impeccable and I think Seattle would still do this deal today, so in my eyes this trade looks much better on the Columbus side then it did a year ago, but I still feel Seattle is the winner of the trade, but I would love to hear who you think wins this trade now in the comments section below.