The New York Rangers made a variety of moves in the offseason to try and improve their roster. Thus far, the early returns on their moves have panned out, as through the first 11 games of the season, the Rangers are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division and for the best record in the Eastern Conference (in terms of points).
On Monday, the Rangers defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 to improve to 7-3-1 on the year. One of the team's offseason acquisitions was credited for two goals, and no, it wasn't Pavel Dorofeyev. Rather, it was Oliver Bjorkstrand, the former Tampa Bay Lightning winger who signed a one-year deal with New York. At the time of the signing, Bjorkstrand was set to be a scoring option in the middle six forward group. Little did fans know that Bjorkstrand would be pushed all the way down to the fourth line with his $4.5 million salary.
Yet, despite the demotion, it hasn't deterred Bjorkstrand's confidence.
Olvier Bjorkstrand did not let demotion to fourth line diminish his confidence
To start the season, Bjorkstrand was on the second line alongside captain J.T. Miller and fellow offseason acquisition Pavel Dorofeyev. The second line was productive with Miller and Dorofeyev, but head coach Mike Sullivan opted to make a change. He would send Bjorkstrand down to the fourth line to swap spots with Tye Kartye, who fit the mold as the ideal player to have on the forecheck.
Even though originally being a top six forward to start the year to be pushed down to the fourth line, Bjorkstrand isn't letting that deter his confidence, saying he "can't be pouting" and that he can use the demotion as motivation.
"Everybody wants to play and play as high up as possible," Bjorkstrand said, h/t Newsday's Colin Stephenson. "You use that as your motivation, and obviously you always want to get out there more...But what you get in front of you, you try to do the best with it, and that's obviously my job is to go out there...and find a way to have an impact with whatever minutes I get."
Oliver Bjorkstrand is in new territory with Rangers
Credit where credit is due. Bjorkstrand is looking to make the most of his limited playing time. It is not a position that Bjorkstrand is familiar with, as he primarily averaged 15:21 of ice time in his 12 years. With the Rangers, he is down to 10:39. Again, this isn't what Rangers fans anticipated when they signed him to the $4.5 million salary for this season.
Sullivan is looking to build the best roster that gives them the strongest chances of winning. With the Rangers looking much faster on the forward depth chart, he wants his fastest players in the top six. Hence why he decided it was in the team's best interest to send Kartye up to the second line. As it turns out, that line is just as productive as it was with Bjorkstrand there.
Bjorkstrand, so far this season, has four goals and one assist to his credit. He scored two goals with the Ducks on Monday, and two goals against the New York Islanders on Oct. 6. We'll see if he can keep up the momentum he built against Anaheim, or if his production will arrive in two-goal bursts every six games.
Either way, Bjorkstrand is looking to help the Rangers win games. If that means doing so with limited ice time, than so be it.
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