Oliver Bjorkstrand (born 10 April 1995) is a Danish professional ice hockey player who is a right winger for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bjorkstrand was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third round, 89th overall, of the 2013 NHL entry draft. Bjorkstrand is the son of American hockey coach Todd and the brother of Patrick.
Born and raised in Herning, Bjorkstrand made his AL-Bank Ligaen debut playing with the Herning Blue Fox during the 2011–12 season. He recorded 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 36 games during his rookie season to lead all 16-year-olds in the league in scoring. As a result, he was selected 26th overall by the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League (WHL) 2012 Import Draft. He spent three seasons with the Winterhawks before beginning his professional career with the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League.
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Early life
Bjorkstrand was born on 10 April 1995, in Herning, Denmark, to parents Todd and Janne. His father, an American citizen, is a former professional hockey player and coach. His older brother Patrick also plays ice hockey. Bjorkstrand was born and raised in Denmark, where he played under the tutelage of his father until he was 17 years old.
Playing career
Junior
Bjorkstrand made his AL-Bank Ligaen debut playing with the Herning Blue Fox during the 2011–12 season. He recorded 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 36 games during his rookie season to lead all 16-year-olds in the league in scoring. As a result, he was selected 26th overall by the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League (WHL) 2012 Import Draft. He subsequently joined the team for their 2012–13 season. By December, Bjorkstrand ranked fourth among all WHL rookies with 27 points and was invited to participate in the 2012 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Following the game, Bjorkstrand earned a top 30 mid-term ranking from the NHL Central Scouting Bureau leading up to the 2013 NHL entry draft. He later recorded his first major junior hat-trick during a 7–0 win over the Tri-City Americans. He ended his rookie regular-season campaign leading all WHL rookies with 31 goals and 63 points in 65 games. Bjorkstrand then shared the team's Rookie of the Year award with Seth Jones before leading all rookie skaters with 19 points in 21 playoff games.
Following his rookie season, Bjorkstrand was drafted 89th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2013 NHL entry draft. On 26 December 2013, during his second season with the Winterhawks, Bjorkstrand signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets. At the time of the signing, he had tallied 25 goals and 31 assists for 56 points in 32 games. By March 2014, Bjorkstrand became the second Winterhawk player in three seasons to reach the 50-goal plateau after recording his fourth hat-trick in one season. As a result, he finished the regular season third in scoring with 109 points and was selected for the WHL Western Conference All-Star First Team. Bjorkstrand then helped the Winterhawks win their fourth straight WHL Western Conference Championship by recording 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points through 14 games.
Bjorkstrand finished his third and final season with the Winterhawks increasing his scoring and offensive ability. During the 2014–15 season, Bjorkstrand led all WHL players in goals and points to earn the Bob Clarke Trophy as the league's leading scorer. He recorded 50 goals in 50 games to become the first WHL player to accomplish the feat since the 2011–12 WHL season. Bjorkstrand also became the first Winterhawk to complete back-to-back 50-goal season since Dennis Holland from 1987-89. He was subsequently unanimously selected to the WHL's Western Conference First All-Star Team, while his teammates voted him the Winterhawks' Most Valuable Player.
Professional
Following his career-high third season campaign with the Winterhawks, Bjorkstrand joined the Blue Jackets' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, to begin the 2015–16 season. In his first professional season, Bjorkstrand recorded 15 goals and 10 assists for 25 points before being recalled to the NHL on 16 March 2016. He made his NHL debut the following day in a game against the Detroit Red Wings and scored his first and second NHL goals in his second game against the New Jersey Devils. He finished the regular season with the Blue Jackets, recording four goals and eight points in 12 games before returning to the AHL for the franchise's first Calder Cup playoff appearance since 2011.
Upon returning to the AHL, Bjorkstrand helped the Monsters sweep the Rockford IceHogs in the first round by scoring 19 seconds into the third period of Game 4. In Game 1 of the following series against the Grand Rapids Griffins, Bjorkstrand recorded the overtime game-winning goal to lead the Monsters to a win. With assistance from his offensive ability, the Monsters qualified for the Calder Cup Finals against the Hershey Bears where he scored the game-winning goal in the final seconds of overtime in Game 4. This effectively won the Calder Cup for the Monsters, and Bjorkstrand also earned the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.
Following the Calder Cup win, Bjorkstrand entered training and development camp with high expectations of making the Blue Jackets' 2016–17 opening night roster. During camp, Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen spoke highly of him, saying: "He's not a big guy, but he's not afraid to play the North American style at all ... it speaks to his character. I love the chip on his shoulder and the way he plays and competes." He was named to the teams' opening night roster but was reassigned to the Cleveland Monsters after playing in three games. During his time in the AHL, Bjorkstrand was also selected for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic roster. Aside from an emergency call-up in December, he would stay with the Monsters until February after scoring 14 goals and 12 assists in 37 games. Upon returning to the NHL level in February 2017, Bjorkstrand recorded 13 points in 26 games and the move was praised by management as the best move made around the trade deadline. In March, Bjorkstrand was sidelined for six games after suffering a hit from Toronto Maple Leafs player Roman Polák, who was subsequently suspended for two games. He returned to the lineup on 4 April 2017 where he had one shot in 14:12 of ice time in a 4–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
International play
As a dual citizen of Denmark and the United States, Bjorkstrand has chosen to represent Denmark at international tournaments. He represented Denmark for the first time internationally at the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships with his father serving as his head coach. Bjorkstrand represented Denmark for the second time at the IIHF World Junior Championship in 2015 after helping them qualify in 2014. During the IIHF World Junior Championship, Division I, Group A tournament, he was named the tournament's Top Forward by the IIHF Directorate. In the same year, Bjorkstrand also made his first senior appearance with the Denmark men's national ice hockey team at the 2015 IIHF World Championship at the age of 20 alongside his brother Patrick.
Bjorkstrand represented Denmark for the second time at the senior level at the 2018 IIHF World Championship. During the tournament, Denmark beat Germany, Finland, Norway, and South Korea but lost to Latvia and missed out on the quarter-finals.
On 8 October 2021, Bjorkstrand was one of three players named to Team Denmark's first-ever Olympic hockey team for the 2022 Winter Olympics. When speaking of the opportunity, Bjorkstrand said: "It’s going to be tough task for us to go far, but it’s a huge honour for us to be there. We’re obviously going to do our best. And it’s always in the back of our heads that we can surprise a bit. We’re all super pumped."