After trading one forward away today, the Boston Bruins announced that they will be without another for the remainder of the season. Anders Bjork will be out for six months following shoulder surgery completed on Tuesday.
The Bruins had high hopes for Bjork coming off a huge season at Notre Dame, but he hasn’t found quite the same impact in his rookie season. With 12 points in 30 games at the NHL level, he’d struggled to find consistency despite obvious talent, and will have to try to take a step forward next season. The 21-year old has a bright future in Boston, but their Stanley Cup run this season will have to be done without him.
Interestingly, the removal of Frank Vatrano and Bjork from the Boston equation does pose some questions about their depth heading into the playoffs. Though the Bruins have been one of the best teams in the entire league this season, they’ve relied heavily on young players without much NHL experience and could look to acquire a more veteran option to plug in for the stretch run. The team does have several forward options waiting in the minor leagues, but there is an obvious opportunity to acquire someone at the deadline to add to the NHL group.
This all stemmed from the small cross check he took from Beauchemin? I remember thinking either his arm had to be broken or something with the shoulder because of how much pain he was in, but still shocking to see it was a labrum tear with other issues too. Kind of crazy.