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RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (2013, 89th, CBJ)

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Oliver Bjørkstrand with 13G 9A in 11 games and still 4'th in points in the WHL and 2'nd in goals.
He has scored a goal in 9 out of 11 games, so that is pretty impressive.
He "only" managed 1G 1A in the Portland 8-1 win over tri-city, but Portland certainly have a lot of guys who can net it.
 
Oliver Bjørkstrand had some good games lately.
In the 4-3 win over Spokane he had 1G 1A and is now second (with teammate Petan) in WHL after Spokane's Mitch Holmberg.
OB has 14G 16A in 15 matches, so 2 PPG. A truly remarkable improvement from just under a PPG last season.
 
Justinov said:
Yeah pretty good development for a late 3'rd round pick. :handclap:
But then he went a lot later in the draft than I had expected (mid-late 2'nd I would have thought).
But most likely his lack of size were the issue.
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Exactly! His size probably scared of potential suitors.

I also pegged him as a mid/late 2nd round.
 
ImGoingNucks said:
Exactly! His size probably scared of potential suitors.

I also pegged him as a mid/late 2nd round.
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It was. His speed and shot was never in question; they were top notch. It would be when the puck starts to get into a cycle and where he needs to start battling for the puck. That is where he suffered.

Haven't seen him play this season so maybe he bulked up a bit and learned to protect the puck from bigger players.
 
Oliver Bjørkstrand with 2 assists in Portland's 5-2 win over Brandon.
So currently 14G 18A in 16 games.
He and Petan keeps the tandem of being joint second best in the WHL after leader Mitch Holmberg with Sam Reinhart as 4'th.
 
danccchan said:
It was. His speed and shot was never in question; they were top notch. It would be when the puck starts to get into a cycle and where he needs to start battling for the puck. That is where he suffered.

Haven't seen him play this season so maybe he bulked up a bit and learned to protect the puck from bigger players.
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But his work ethic and giving 100% every shift was 1st round line qualities, so I am still a bit surprised he fell to 3rd round.
 
S E P H said:
But his work ethic and giving 100% every shift was 1st round line qualities, so I am still a bit surprised he fell to 3rd round.
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I am too, but this seems to have been a good draft and even if he was relatively high on a bunch of teams' draft rankings he could have fallen to the 3rd.

Size, consistency, and adapting his game to the next level will definitely be challenges for him though in the near future.
 
Oliver Bjørkstrand keeps going great in WHL.
He is currectly 4'th in production with 21G 27A in 27 games.
He scored 3G in the 6-3 win over Spokane.
 
Another 2G 1A in a Portland 6-5 win vs. Saskatoon Blades.
Joint 3'rd in point production with 51 points. (& second best goal scorer)
 
Oliver has 7g, 15a, and 22pts in 11 games in February. He has points in 14 straight games (13g, 17a, 30pts).

On the season:
60gp, 43g, 53a, 96pts, 30pim, +32

He is 3rd in points in the WHL.
 
I've been a fan of his for a while but I can't even say I expected this result this early.
 
On draft day, I was screaming at the tv for the Flyers to take him. I figured with them selecting Leier the year before, they say lots of Bjork and saw him put up nearly a PPG. Nope. Instead they waste a draft pick on someone they say is Rinaldo 2.0. :p:
 
I think Bjork is too good for juniors now. I wish he could play in the A next year, since he won't make the Jackets. Am I wrong for this? Is his numbers just misleading? Or is he actually just dominating that much.

I hope to see him in a Jackets jersey in 2-4 years.
 
3 points last night brings Bjorkstrand up to 100 for the year...having a monster sophomore season.

Can we safely assume at this point that he's a legit pro prospect? Good size at nearly 6'0", excellent puck skills, excellent shot...does he have a downside?
 
Reddawg said:
3 points last night brings Bjorkstrand up to 100 for the year...having a monster sophomore season.

Can we safely assume at this point that he's a legit pro prospect? Good size at nearly 6'0", excellent puck skills, excellent shot...does he have a downside?
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His technical skills have always been excellent, no doubt about that. For me, the question still is if he can amass enough strength and learn to use it to his advantage. He is still very light, so he has some work to do. I hope the best for him, but I still have some reservations about how his game will translate to the pro level.
 
Love this kid. Thought he'd go at least top60 in the draft. CBJ got themselves a steal getting him at #89. Amazing. If he can bulk up during the summer I don't think it's impossible for him to get a shot in the big league, maybe take that 3rd line RW role. Seems like he has little to prove in juniors.
 
Reddawg said:
3 points last night brings Bjorkstrand up to 100 for the year...having a monster sophomore season.

Can we safely assume at this point that he's a legit pro prospect? Good size at nearly 6'0", excellent puck skills, excellent shot...does he have a downside?
Click to expand...

With these 100 points he has (to my knowledge) equalized the best point production of a Danish player in OHL, WHL or QMJHL.
Morten Madsen had 32G 68A in 62 games for Victoriaville Tigres in QHJHL in 2006/07.
Oliver Bjørkstrand has 44G 56A in 64 games so far.
 
Reddawg said:
3 points last night brings Bjorkstrand up to 100 for the year...having a monster sophomore season.

Can we safely assume at this point that he's a legit pro prospect? Good size at nearly 6'0", excellent puck skills, excellent shot...does he have a downside?
Click to expand...

His size. He's not big. He's thin and weak. Add to that he's not got much hustle. He can be bodied off the puck and doesn't really fight to get it back. He's just not that strong. He's often a perimeter player too. Which is why he won't be a 3rd line player. He's top line or nothing - his puck skills are great obviously but its his hockey sense that can be elite.

And his skating could use improvement too.

I think he will struggle at the next level until he gets much stronger and if he doesn't improve his involvement in the physical aspects of the game he's not going to get a shot in the NHL.
 
MatthewFlames said:
His size. He's not big. He's thin and weak. Add to that he's not got much hustle. He can be bodied off the puck and doesn't really fight to get it back. He's just not that strong. He's often a perimeter player too. Which is why he won't be a 3rd line player. He's top line or nothing - his puck skills are great obviously but its his hockey sense that can be elite.

And his skating could use improvement too.

I think he will struggle at the next level until he gets much stronger and if he doesn't improve his involvement in the physical aspects of the game he's not going to get a shot in the NHL.
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There is hope for him to grow some muscle.
He is listed as being almost the same height as his big brother in KHL (Patrick Bjørkstrand is 3 years older), but being 10 kg lighter.
For a transition to a NHL game the improved skating seems to be the thing to work on.
 
5255 said:
Love this kid. Thought he'd go at least top60 in the draft. CBJ got themselves a steal getting him at #89. Amazing. If he can bulk up during the summer I don't think it's impossible for him to get a shot in the big league, maybe take that 3rd line RW role. Seems like he has little to prove in juniors.
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There really isn't any room on the Jackets for him. Even if he got stronger and proved he was ready.
 
Justinov said:
With these 100 points he has (to my knowledge) equalized the best point production of a Danish player in OHL, WHL or QMJHL.
Morten Madsen had 32G 68A in 62 games for Victoriaville Tigres in QHJHL in 2006/07.
Oliver Bjørkstrand has 44G 56A in 64 games so far.
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Right now he is ahead (by 5 points) of fellow countryman Nikolaj Ehlers who is sitting at 48g 52a and 101pts.

Denmark is in the World Juniors next year, and I'm selfishly hoping that Bjorkstrand and Ehlers both play. It would be a treat, and most likely, the best World Juniors for that country in recent memory.
 
TheOllieC said:
Hat trick for Ollie tonight as he hit 50 goals on the season!
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Yeah he cracked the 50 goal mark as the first Dane in tough battle with Nikolaj Ehlers, that ended up having 49 goals in QMJHL.
Also in points he won that battle with 109 against Ehlers 104.
He also got third in points in WHL, while Ehlers was 4'th in QMJHL.
So also a hat-trick in that respect!

Fascinating that the two best Danish performances in the NA junior leagues came the same year.
 
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