{"id":488796,"date":"2026-03-06T09:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/488796\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T09:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:33:13","slug":"lightning-shopping-oliver-bjorkstrand-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/488796\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightning Shopping Oliver Bjorkstrand \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this evening\u2019s publication of Trade Deadline Thoughts<\/a> courtesy of Sportsnet\u2019s Elliotte Friedman, the insider listed Tampa Bay Lightning forward Oliver Bjorkstrand<\/a> on his \u201cnames to keep an eye on\u201d.<\/p>\n

Standing at #5 in the league, and by no means a seller, it figures that GM Julien BriseBois is looking to move out the 30-year-old\u2019s expiring $5.4MM valued contract in pursuit of other forward depth. Such would be tough news for the veteran, as he still has a role on the contending Lightning, averaging just over 14 minutes a night and getting time on the power play. The Denmark native also has some control over his fate, as he holds a 10-team no trade clause. However, Bjorkstrand\u2019s cap hit could simply be allocated better elsewhere should a deal actually materialize.<\/p>\n

Bjorkstrand has 28 points in 59 games on the season, solid production, but not worth his ticket. Also not helping matters is that his possession metrics at 5-on-5 have dipped this year, a -2.7% in relative corsi for at even strength. Tampa Bay has had more success at even strength when he\u2019s not on the ice, and that\u2019s especially impactful as he takes up over $5MM for a team which is right against the cap.<\/p>\n

Exactly one year ago today<\/a>, Bjorkstrand was acquired by Tampa Bay along with Yanni Gourde<\/a> from Seattle. He had been productive with the Kraken, hovering around the 50-point level, and figured to be scoring depth for the Bolts. One year later though, his inflated contract could result in another deal.<\/p>\n

If Bjorkstrand would actually be moved, the most likely outcome would be somewhat similar to Edmonton\u2019s dealing with<\/a> Andrew Mangiapane<\/a>. BriseBois would need to add draft sweeteners while simultaneously bringing in a respectable forward. It came at a high cost to the Oilers, who had to surrender a conditional 2027 first-round pick. However as Bjorkstrand\u2019s deal comes to an end this summer, it should be closer to the third-round pick range. Tampa Bay holds both their second and third round picks for 2026, but without their first, and a fourth, they\u2019d want to avoid running so thin and could look to 2027 or 2028 instead.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the question stands as to who they could be after. With Dominic James<\/a> set to miss eight-to-ten weeks with a lower body injury<\/a>, the Bolts may be wise to add another center. Internally, Gourde has regressed this year and is best suited in a limited role. Nashville\u2019s Erik Haula<\/a> or Toronto\u2019s Scott Laughton<\/a> are options which shouldn\u2019t break the bank, and Brayden Schenn<\/a> could be a dark horse veteran option, but unlikely, as Bjorkstrand\u2019s outgoing salary along with retention would be key factors.<\/p>\n

If content to pursue wingers instead, they could bring back a familiar face. Calgary\u2019s Blake Coleman<\/a> or the Rangers\u2019 Taylor Raddysh<\/a> would be welcome additions.<\/p>\n

At this point Tampa Bay has seldom been directly linked to any forwards in serious discussion. However, if rumors start picking up Bjorkstrand could be a name to watch. Clearly too late for him to rebuild his stock and bounce back onto another contender, the two-way forward would in all likelihood utilize a larger role on a non-playoff team to help with his free agency optics this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this evening\u2019s publication of Trade Deadline Thoughts courtesy of Sportsnet\u2019s Elliotte Friedman, the insider listed Tampa Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,4,1288,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-488796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-oliver-bjorkstrand","11":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116181546027236542","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}