BOSTON – Young Bruins winger Anders Bjork comes into this fall’s B’s training camp with plenty still left to prove.
Just a year ago the 22-year-old was riding high after a Hobey Baker-level season with Notre Dame and a stint at the world championships that pushed him to sign with the Bruins, and he was penciled in as the right wing with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand to start the regular season. That’s pretty heady stuff for any young NHL prospect, but Bjork thoroughly deserved it as one of the top prospects in Boston’s system.
The season wasn’t the stuff of hockey dreams for Bjork, unfortunately, and he put together a decent four goals and 12 points in 30 games for Boston before a shoulder injury ultimately ended his season prematurely. A massive center ice hit from Matt Martin in November during a Bruins/Leafs game was the beginning of the end for Bjork, and his second half was relegated to rooting for friends and peers Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen as he rehabbed from surgery.
”Seeing the success those guys had was inspiring to me, for sure,” said Bjork. “All the younger guys are pretty close friends and we definitely stuck together because it’s a big transition. So seeing them have [NHL] success and sort of breakthrough at different times playing with confidence, it was inspiring to me and a lot of other young guys too.”
In some ways for Bjork and the Bruins, it was a bit of a lost rookie season when compared to other members of a standout rookie class.
With all that in the rear view mirror now, the shoulder feeling good and a possible top-6 winger spot available in this camp, Bjork is looking take all of those lessons from last season and apply them while winning a roster spot.
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“I took in a lot last year, especially when I was injured, and I’m trying to implement that now. My focus here is to soak it all in and improve some of the habits in my game that I didn’t like so much last year,” said Bjork, who finished with a total of six goals and 16 points in 39 games between Boston and Providence last season. “It’s just being smarter and more responsible [in the defensive zone] and not jumping in when I don’t have to. [It’s about] closing on guys at the right time, I guess.
“It’s also about shooting the puck more. I worked a lot on my shot this summer, and I’m more confident in it. Hopefully I can use that confidence and shoot it a bit more, especially when I’m in the slot areas. That’s really important for me to take my game to the next level.”
Bjork also said that he worked on upper body strength to benefit both his shooting and his ability to win puck battles against bigger, stronger NHL opponents, and that was the biggest thing he had to work on, in the opinion of this humble hockey writer.
“It’s not unlike a lot of other guys where he’s in a position competing for ice time, and he’s a guy that makes plays. He has the ability to make plays and create offense, so he’s going to have to do that,” said Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco.
Bjork still brings the skating speed, good offensive instincts and skill that made him a premium B’s prospect in the first place. Much like Heinen did last season, Bjork could take his slight “under the radar” status in this camp to really push his way into the B’s NHL plans this season.
It certainly sounds like he’s got the right mindset headed into the preseason, and now it’s up to Bjork to show everything he did last training camp and make sure he’s with the rest of the young B’s crew when the season opens in October.