The New York Rangers made their first big move of the summer by acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights, and today's signing of Oliver Bjorkstrand as a follow up to that closes two key holes in the team's top six. While the addition of Bjorkstrand won't get as much attention as Dorofeyev, it is the exact type of move the team needed to make.
Bjorkstrand is a dependable player with upside
The Rangers haved added Bjorkstrand on a one-year deal worth $4.5 million, and the team is adding a goal scorer and finisher who has had strong underlying metrics throughout his career.
#NYR sign Oliver Bjorkstrand to one-year deal at $4.5 million
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) July 1, 2026
Bjorkstrand has scored 184 goals and added 232 assists for 416 points in 704 games, and he's been quite efficient considering he averaged 15:26 per night. He's scored 20 goals or more six times in his career, and the years he didn't score 20, he finished with 11 in 82 games, 18 in 56 games, and 12 in 80 games.
He joins New York from the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he posted 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points while shooting just 9.2 percent, 2.4 percent lower than his career average of 11.6 percent.
Rangers are buying low on Bjorkstrand
In addition to having a poor shooting year, there was also a significant gap between his on ice performance and his expected output. Per Evolving-Hockey, Bjorkstrand had a 43.51 GF% and a 49.26 xGF%. He maintained a 50.79 CF% this year, so it wasn't a case of him chasing the game more.
For context, he finished the 2024-25 season with a 56.15 GF%, a 51.11 CF%, and a 49.25 xGF%, and that represents him being a bit lucky. If you look at the two seasons back to back, the logical assumption is he's due for a performance somewhere in the middle.
He joins a team where he just needs to shoot the puck and finish on his chances, and he will be surrounded with enough talent to have an impact. He had some bad luck at times this past season, and I wouldn't expect that to hurt him again.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, signed 1x$4.5M by NYR, is a two-way scoring winger who missed more tap-ins for the Lightning this year than I did in men's league. pic.twitter.com/HWmRDR94Qq
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 1, 2026
In some respects, this move feels like a better version of when the Rangers traded for Reilly Smith. In an ideal world you'd want someone who contributes at a higher clip, but for the cost it is worth it.
The unknown variable here is what happens to his production with additional time on ice. If he's on the second line, and potentially second power play unit, Bjorkstrand should average around 17 minutes per game. Could that extra time put him in a range where he's a 50 point player who pushes for 25 goals? There's no way of knowing for sure, but his profile is a great fit, and the team has him on a one-year deal under $5 million.
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