Bjork pushes his way back into big picture for Bruins

Share

BRIGHTON, Mass – Don’t look now, but Anders Bjork is scratching his way back up the depth chart of the Bruins’ phalanx of talented young wingers. 

It was little more than a year ago that Bjork was at the top of the B’s prospect list at forward and started the season as the right winger with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand after signing early out of Notre Dame.

But rookie inconsistencies, a couple of big hits, a stint in the minors and, ultimately, shoulder surgery pushed him back behind Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen and Ryan Donato as the other three wingers in the NHL. Bjork was a bit of an afterthought this fall in training camp as he worked back from the surgery. It was kind of assumed that Heinen and Donato would lock up regular spots while perhaps the former Bjork would start the season in Providence.

Instead, Bjork showed some fight and compete once he got into the lineup in the preseason, and even better, he showed a little more heaviness on the puck than he did last season.

All of that went noticed by the Bruins coaching and has been reflected in his ongoing presence as one of Boston’s third-line wingers.

“It’s been a long time coming. He’s worked to be in the lineup. We didn’t talk a lot about him in August. We weren’t sure when he’d get in and he’s kind of pushed himself in the lineup, it’s that simple,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “That’s why you don’t pick your team in necessarily in July sometimes. You let it develop, and I think he’s done a good job of being heavier on pucks.

“His goals started with a puck battle on the wall that he hung in on, him and Backs [David Backes], and they got it out and off they go. So [it’s] good for him. Even the play late, I mean it’s a nothing goal but for him it’s important to be able to hang onto pucks below the goal line and make a play with it, a strong play. I think he should be real satisfied with his game.”

The speedy, skilled winger scored his first goal of the season in a blowout win over the Red Wings on Saturday.

The goal against the Wings was a nice showcase of Bjork’s strengths as he fought to get the puck out of the defensive zone, sped along the right wing and then zinged a shot past Jonathan Bernie while on the rush. It was a nice change from one game prior when Bjork had another clean look at the net while on the move, and decided instead to drop back a pass rather than attack the net with his own improved shot.

The little extra bit of confidence made all the difference, and has been a focus of Bjork this season when it comes to shooting the puck a whole lot more than he did last season.

“I think having a shot first mentality opens up plays, especially like the passes open up when the D think you’re shooting. You see like Pastrnak does that all the time. A bunch of guys on our team do, and I think, you know, I’m trying to be like that a little bit,” said Bjork, who has four shots on net in four games this season. “[I’m trying to] take the puck to the net because it creates more angles to yourself and it gets your teammates open as well. When you have your shot you’ve got to take it. I think that’s something that I, you know, struggled with last year and hopefully I’m improving on.”

So far, so good with Bjork’s two points in four games as fellow young wingers Heinen and Donato have been shuttled in and out of the lineup. It looks as if Bjork is again regaining some of that confidence lost last season after getting trucked by Matt Martin early in the season. Now, he’s showing why everybody had such high hopes for him last season in the first place.   

NBC SPORTS BOSTON SCHEDULE

Contact Us