Friedman: Oliver Bjorkstrand & Andre Burakovsky

[BKarchitect]

Bjorkstrand is surprising, Burakovsky rumbles should be expected.

I expected these names over Bjork... Tanev, Oleksiak, Tolvanen... Grubauer.

I don't think Seattle comes out a winner making a Bjorkstrand trade.

I think it would simply be a matter of him returning quite a bit more than those other names. At the end of the day a guy like Bjorkstrand is a significant step above a guy like Tolvanen, but if your franchise is just treading water - what’s the real difference between having one or the other being one of your middle six forwards? Especially if one can return a 1st or something else legitimately valuable and the other one is gonna get you a mid-pick.

 

[SteelCityCannon]

not defending it but the context is that they were over the cap after signing gaudreau + extending laine.

in hindsight they should have traded laine that summer – that's the bigger issue imo.

My timeline might be messed up, but the move would have been figuring out something with Voracek. Nobody had the cap space to give.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

My timeline might be messed up, but the move would have been figuring out something with Voracek. Nobody had the cap space to give.

they traded bjorkstrand the same day that they signed laine's extension because it was the last day laine could sign his qualifying offer. IIRC, laine signing his QO would have both put them over the cap and walked him to UFA.

they had to shed something like $3m of cap and had no takers for guys like voracek or elvis. it was also speculated that, given the cap situation, they would've had to add an asset to move nyquist.

meanwhile seattle offered draft capital for bjorkstrand. they waited until the last possible minute to do it, which means they were probably pushing to find a taker for nyquist and couldn't.

the trade itself isn't necessarily the issue. the return was underwhelming but contextually made sense, as the team's cap situation cost them leverage. the issue was jarmo hitching his wagon to laine.

 

[majormajor]

they traded bjorkstrand the same day that they signed laine's extension because it was the last day laine could sign his qualifying offer. IIRC, laine signing his QO would have both put them over the cap and walked him to UFA.

they had to shed something like $3m of cap and had no takers for guys like voracek or elvis. it was also speculated that, given the cap situation, they would've had to add an asset to move nyquist.

meanwhile seattle offered draft capital for bjorkstrand. they waited until the last possible minute to do it, which means they were probably pushing to find a taker for nyquist and couldn't.

the trade itself isn't necessarily the issue. the return was underwhelming but contextually made sense, as the team's cap situation cost them leverage. the issue was jarmo hitching his wagon to laine.

I don't mean to open up that whole can of worms again, but at the time, I calculated it out and the team could have squeaked under the cap with a 20 or 21 man roster (the way Toronto and Vegas frequently do). They just had to dump like Boqvist or Bean or something, I can't remember. And as was expected, players started the year on IR anyways, so there was never a cap issue. Obviously Jarmo was not comfortable getting that close to the cap, or comfortable being over the cap during the summer (which teams sometimes are).

It was all for nothing, from my perspective. Just Jarmo not understanding who his best players were and trying to make a face saving move with the Bjorkstrand deal (a 3rd + 4th might as well be zero for a player of his caliber).

I don't think Seattle comes out a winner making a Bjorkstrand trade.

It's a rebuilding move, which is unfortunately the situation the team is in. Let's see if Francis recognizes it. Our speculation on HF Seattle is mostly that Francis wants to focus on long term and that it's ownership that doesn't get it with where the team is at. Whether they see it or not, the team will not be on good footing for 2+ years. Bjorkstrand will be well into his 30s and on his next deal by then.

 

[Palmu]

Kekäläinen favouring Laine instead of Björkstrand still pisses me off. It should have been the end of Kekäläinen.

I would love to have The Great Dane back in Columbus.

 

[ryan callahan]

Burakovsky and Grubauer need to be off the team like yesterday and Stephenson isn't a PP1 guy. Team is constructed like ****. They need skill guys. Too many two way middle 6 boring types.

 

[majormajor]

Burakovsky and Grubauer need to be off the team like yesterday and Stephenson isn't a PP1 guy. Team is constructed like ****. They need skill guys. Too many two way middle 6 boring types.

Burakovsky and Stephenson are Francis' attempt at adding skill guys. Not good enough obviously. Paradoxically the team was much better when they were unpretentious boring middle 6ers and just cycled opponents to death. The players quit on Hak though, and with the coaching change the team has embraced going in a skill direction, they're just bad at it.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

...poor Burakovsky; soo much skill, soo little hockey sense...

 

[gprep93]

I think the injuries the last couple year have broken Burakovsky. He continuously turns the puck over entering the opponent's offensive zone, and refuses to go anywhere near the front of the net. I would not be sad to see him go.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Burakovsky and Grubauer need to be off the team like yesterday and Stephenson isn't a PP1 guy. Team is constructed like ****. They need skill guys. Too many two way middle 6 boring types.

I don't think there is a single Kraken fan who disagrees with you on any of this. Depending on how Francis proceeds, we could be in a pretty good shape by the start of the 2026-27 season.