The Columbus Blue Jackets have needed offense in the worst way all season long. They have oscillated between strong offensively and weak offensively. It mostly correlates back to how they want to play each game.
There seems to be only one common theme no matter how it all plays out, and it ties back to a player that has performed all season long: Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Bjorkstrand is on track to break all of his career marks. That includes goals, assists, and points. He is also doing all of this at a sustainable rate. His PDO is well within a normal range and so is his shooting percentage. It begs the question that was asked at the beginning of the season: why isn't he seeing more ice time?
Notable forwards ahead of Bjorkstrand in average ice time this season include Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner, Jack Roslovic (only by a second) and Patrik Laine.
A couple of those names make sense given their offensive impact, but by the same token, it is only that much more perplexing. Foligno dwarfs Bjorkstrand by over a minute of average ice time and Jenner is seeing only a thirty-second increase over him. Regardless, that is a shift or two each game that needs to be going to a difference-making forward.
To put into context how good Bjorkstrand's season has been, extrapolated over the entirety of a season with his current point per game pace and shooting percentage, he would be looking at a top-ten and borderline top-five point-scoring season in Blue Jacket history. Comparable seasons include Cam Atkinson's 2018-19 campaign with 69 points and Ryan Johansen's 71 point campaign in 2014-15.
While extrapolating stats is all well and good for hypothetical conversations, the question remains what is going on with the deployment for the Blue Jackets? Bjorkstrand's relative Corsi percentage paints him as a player that moves play in the right direction. He also is someone who splits his zone starts fairly evenly between the offensive and defensive zone.
Nothing more can be asked of Bjorkstrand except for him getting time on the penalty kill an area that would be best avoided for a player of his offensive talent. The Blue Jackets aren't better served with other players out on the ice for key moments, Bjorkstand has arrived and it is time to start treating him like the budding superstar that he is.
