Former Bruins Anders Bjork III

[Gordoff]

I'm not sure why anyone thinks Anders Bjork will be anything like Rielly Smith. I see practically no similarities to the two players.

Agreed and IIRC people complained that Smith shied away from physical play and seemed lazy. Anders always gave his all, even if he didn't set the world on fire scoring goals. I hope he has a great career going forward and earns the big bucks.

 

[BruinDust]

Agreed and IIRC people complained that Smith shied away from physical play and seemed lazy. Anders always gave his all, even if he didn't set the world on fire scoring goals. I hope he has a great career going forward and earns the big bucks.

I think he has an opportunity to be a solid 4th line LWer who is good defensively, works hard, and can kill penalties. He has the ability to carve out a nice 500 game career as a role player.

 

[bme44]

In five years bjork might be the best player in this trade.

In two years Bjork may be the best player in this trade. After his contract expires in two years he may be out of the NHL. It all depends on Bjork getting stronger along the boards and learning to finish and no one can predict how that will go.

 

[Kegs]

In two years Bjork may be the best player in this trade. After his contract expires in two years he may be out of the NHL. It all depends on Bjork getting stronger along the boards and learning to finish and no one can predict how that will go.

He pretty good on the boards. He lacks finish. He is a good third line pker at this time. I see him developing into a 30-50 point guy tho. But hey I’m no scout :p. I’m just a bored coach gm.

 

[Riley 88]

He is the same player who we traded....Looks good, skates well, makes nice moves...Then cant finish. Game on his stick.....Good riddance and good luck.

 

[ON3M4N]

He pretty good on the boards. He lacks finish. He is a good third line pker at this time. I see him developing into a 30-50 point guy tho. But hey I’m no scout :p. I’m just a bored coach gm.

50 might be aggressive lol. I could see him as a 10-15 goal guy w/ 15-20 assist in an average year. If he can get the offense to click maybe he hits 40 points a few times. To hit 50pts he'd need to play at a .60 PGP, which is double his career PGP.

 

[member 96824]

I'm not sure why anyone thinks Anders Bjork will be anything like Rielly Smith. I see practically no similarities to the two players.

Not quite sure it's a direct comparison of playing styles as much as a guess that he might be a guy who moves on and does better away from Boston than he did here.

The old Reilly Smith trade thread is a funny and worthwhile read though. People threw a parade. When names like Versteeg and Wheeler came up, it was met with the same type of post as above.

Not saying Bjork will end up the same way as those guys did, but I see him having a nice career and playing as an NHLer into his 30s

 

[SpitfireIX]

I will say this, Bjork served a purpose in allowing us to get Hall for a 2nd round pick. I actually like Lazar better than Bjork as well. The drafting of Bjork was a wise choice as it has helped get bigger assets.

 

[BruinDust]

Not quite sure it's a direct comparison of playing styles as much as a guess that he might be a guy who moves on and does better away from Boston than he did here.

The old Reilly Smith trade thread is a funny and worthwhile read though. People threw a parade. When names like Versteeg and Wheeler came up, it was met with the same type of post as above.

Not saying Bjork will end up the same way as those guys did, but I see him having a nice career and playing as an NHLer into his 30s

I think the difference for me is Smith actually did have some success here in 2013-14 and was a fairly important part of that team. But he was god-awful in 2014-15. He coughed up the puck on a PP vs. Ottawa behind his own net you could see his confidence was shot. He had reached Wideman 2010 level by the end of that 2015 season around here.

I still don't miss him. Too bad Hayes turned out to be even worse, much worse.

Bjork has never really found his footing in the NHL, some of it his fault, some of it falls on others. Personally I don't see the skill-level required to be even a semi-consistent point producer in the NHL. But if he's a 4th line LW who brings 20-25 pts a year, nothing wrong with that at all.

 

[ODAAT]

I think the difference for me is Smith actually did have some success here in 2013-14 and was a fairly important part of that team. But he was god-awful in 2014-15. He coughed up the puck on a PP vs. Ottawa behind his own net you could see his confidence was shot. He had reached Wideman 2010 level by the end of that 2015 season around here.

I still don't miss him. Too bad Hayes turned out to be even worse, much worse.

Bjork has never really found his footing in the NHL, some of it his fault, some of it falls on others. Personally I don't see the skill-level required to be even a semi-consistent point producer in the NHL. But if he's a 4th line LW who brings 20-25 pts a year, nothing wrong with that at all.

good post, really wonder what Bjork would look like now if he never had those injury set backs in, I think, his first two seasons?

 

[Dr Hook]

We got to see some 'vintage' Bjork last night. Skilled, speedy, hard-working and a complete lack of finish around the net. Thankfully, now that he is on another team. I hope he can put it together in Buffalo- always have liked him.

 

[BruinDust]

good post, really wonder what Bjork would look like now if he never had those injury set backs in, I think, his first two seasons?

The injuries were set-backs no question. I'm not trying to make excuses for the guy, but between:

A) Injuries

B) Being placed on the Bergeron or Krejci lines to start his career instead of working his way up.

C) Breaking in on his off-wing. Sure he played RW in college, but the time and space to needed to play your off-wing in the neutral zone and defensive zone for receiving passes just isn't there in the NHL. Then factor in the bad habit of cutting into the middle from the off-wing, which caused at least one of his bad injuries.

D) Shuffling around the line-up - If he wasn't being shuffled up or down from one line to another, he was being shuffled from LW to RW (or vice-versa) Very little consistency in his line-up spot.

I hope he goes to Buffalo and becomes to them what Daniel Paille was for Bruins fans a decade ago, and makes a pile of money doing it. He's an NHL player.

 

[SpitfireIX]

In two years Bjork may be the best player in this trade. After his contract expires in two years he may be out of the NHL. It all depends on Bjork getting stronger along the boards and learning to finish and no one can predict how that will go.

He will never be better than Taylor Hall... Bjork does not have the hockey sense. He is a good skater, has good handles but other than that... His best hope is to become a solid bottom six player a la Nordstrom. You don't have to have hockey sense to work hard and I think he does, he can learn to be more physical but his vision and awareness will not improve much.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

The injuries were set-backs no question. I'm not trying to make excuses for the guy, but between:

A) Injuries

B) Being placed on the Bergeron or Krejci lines to start his career instead of working his way up.

C) Breaking in on his off-wing. Sure he played RW in college, but the time and space to needed to play your off-wing in the neutral zone and defensive zone for receiving passes just isn't there in the NHL. Then factor in the bad habit of cutting into the middle from the off-wing, which caused at least one of his bad injuries.

D) Shuffling around the line-up - If he wasn't being shuffled up or down from one line to another, he was being shuffled from LW to RW (or vice-versa) Very little consistency in his line-up spot.

I hope he goes to Buffalo and becomes to them what Daniel Paille was for Bruins fans a decade ago, and makes a pile of money doing it. He's an NHL player.

Agreed. He had his chances here, but it was time to move on for him and us. He wasn't in the future.

I don't understand a lot of good riddance type posts about the kid, it's not like he somehow wronged the Bruins for not having acquired better wingers for years. For the most part he was happy to be a Bruin and was a hard worker. His play wasn't up to par for a team that had higher expectations of him, so he doesn't fit with the current roster. He was a 4th round pick that has had better NHL success so far than some other players drafted higher than him. A lot of vitriol against him like he kicked someones puppy or screwed the team out of something. Just don't get it.

Good Luck Anders, just not against us.

 

[Ladyfan]

He will never be better than Taylor Hall... Bjork does not have the hockey sense. He is a good skater, has good handles but other than that... His best hope is to become a solid bottom six player a la Nordstrom. You don't have to have hockey sense to work hard and I think he does, he can learn to be more physical but his vision and awareness will not improve much.

He does make quite a bit less $$$ thank Hall.

I wish him the best. IMO he has skill and I hope he plays well. Good kid.

 

[Kalus]

All I could think about when watching the new Marvel show on Disney +. That is Kurt Russell's kid who actually played in the BCHL and OPJHL leagues.

 

[bb74]

Ever since they sat him in the ND outdoor game, it was an indication he was on the fringe of their plans. I still can't believe that happened. I "get" that they are trying to win games and want to put out their best but Nordstrom, Cave, and JFK were in that lineup so there were options.

I think they were hoping he would morph into a Hyman type energy winger. Looks like he will be more like Paille which is OK as a depth guy, but not at 1.6M a year.

 

[ON3M4N]

Ever since they sat him in the ND outdoor game, it was an indication he was on the fringe of their plans. I still can't believe that happened. I "get" that they are trying to win games and want to put out their best but Nordstrom, Cave, and JFK were in that lineup so there were options.

I think they were hoping he would morph into a Hyman type energy winger. Looks like he will be more like Paille which is OK as a depth guy, but not at 1.6M a year.

They didn't sit him for the Notre Dame Winter Classic Game. He wasn't even on the NHL roster at the time and IIRC he was in the AHL, but had gotten hurt a few days before the Winter Classic while playing in Providence.

 

[ODAAT]

Ever since they sat him in the ND outdoor game, it was an indication he was on the fringe of their plans. I still can't believe that happened. I "get" that they are trying to win games and want to put out their best but Nordstrom, Cave, and JFK were in that lineup so there were options.

I think they were hoping he would morph into a Hyman type energy winger. Looks like he will be more like Paille which is OK as a depth guy, but not at 1.6M a year.

he was injured for that game

I`ll miss him, while he must take some responsibility for his time in Boston, I`m not convinced he was treated super fair by Butch at times

Either way, don`t think the B`s and us fan will regret the deal but I think we`ll see Bjork get all the chance in the world in Buffalo and he`ll find his niche. I think he`s a 3opt guy, top out at say 40, for a 5th round draft pick, not bad at all, time will tell

 

[Number8]

Agreed. He had his chances here, but it was time to move on for him and us. He wasn't in the future.

I don't understand a lot of good riddance type posts about the kid, it's not like he somehow wronged the Bruins for not having acquired better wingers for years. For the most part he was happy to be a Bruin and was a hard worker. His play wasn't up to par for a team that had higher expectations of him, so he doesn't fit with the current roster. He was a 4th round pick that has had better NHL success so far than some other players drafted higher than him. A lot of vitriol against him like he kicked someones puppy or screwed the team out of something. Just don't get it.

Good Luck Anders, just not against us.

Could not agree more. Nice kid and a hard worker. Wish him the very best.

You say good riddance to things like the flu.... not some kid who gave his best for Boston and got traded.

 

[Kegs]

Ever since they sat him in the ND outdoor game, it was an indication he was on the fringe of their plans. I still can't believe that happened. I "get" that they are trying to win games and want to put out their best but Nordstrom, Cave, and JFK were in that lineup so there were options.

I think they were hoping he would morph into a Hyman type energy winger. Looks like he will be more like Paille which is OK as a depth guy, but not at 1.6M a year.

I’ll take paille in his prime at 1.6. He was a great defensive forward. He was a breakaway machine too.

 

[inactive user]

Bjork with a goal and 2 assists in his first two games as a Sabre.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Not here to be a dick but he looks fantastic so far, he’s so fast for his size. Led all forwards in ice time for us tonight.

 

[inactive user]

Not here to be a dick but he looks fantastic so far, he’s so fast for his size

I’m glad you’re enjoying him and yes he’s a great skater.

 

[Ladyfan]

Not here to be a dick but he looks fantastic so far, he’s so fast for his size

Many here are happy for Anders. I hope he does well for you.