The Boston Bruins were hoping for big things from young forward Anders Bjork this season after finding some success in 2017-18. The 22-year old had improved his prospect stock greatly during his time at Notre Dame and then recorded 12 points in 30 games during his rookie season. This year hasn’t gone swimmingly though as Bjork struggled at the NHL level and has now been ruled out for the next five to six months with a shoulder injury. He underwent surgery on his left shoulder and will be out for the rest of the year.
Bjork injured the shoulder while playing in Providence, and will now miss a huge part of his development time as he tries to climb the Bruins organizational ladder. More importantly perhaps he’ll now be heading into the final season of his entry-level contract as a 23-year old fifth-round pick with just 15 points in 50 NHL games. That kind of production will certainly limit his earning potential almost regardless of what he does in 2019-20.
This injury also removes a potential trade chip for the Bruins as they head towards the upcoming deadline. The team obviously wants to improve their forward group and young players like Bjork could have been moved while they still had value. It seems unlikely that any buyer would want to touch a player in his situation now even with his upside, given the uncertainty around how he will return from injury.
Damn. Unfortunate for bjork. Hopefully the bruins sign him in the offseason and let him play some more at providence. I think he can play at least second line. Debrusk-krejci-bjork would be a good line
Two years in a row that Bjork has had his season ended with a shoulder injury. The injuries have really hurt his development
sounds like a torn labrum = 1 year of rehab and another year to regain full strength.. sucks