Price Check: Oliver Bjorkstrand

Arguably the most significant free-agent signing the New York Rangers made this summer, Oliver Bjorkstrand has historically been a guy who plays a defensively responsible game and can contribute some secondary offense, usually anywhere between 30-50 points per season. While he was likely signed to be a stopgap type of solution for the Rangers, there is a case to be made, judging from his performance to start the year, that the Rangers could benefit from another one or two years of his services. But will his price be too steep for the Rangers?

Performance to Start the Season  

At the time of this writing, Bjorkstrand is currently tied for second on the team in goals and is seventh in points. This feat is even more impressive considering that Bjorkstrand has spent a large portion of this season playing on the team's fourth line. Expected to be a middle six solution, Bjorkstrand is the type of player you know what you can expect from on a nightly basis. He's a guy who's been around this league for more than a decade, with more than 700 games under his belt, who sees the ice incredibly well, has a deceptively strong shot, and plays a hard, honest two-way game.

Many of those qualities have fallen by the wayside or perhaps gone a bit unnoticed given how much time he spent on the team's fourth line in the earlier parts of the season. At the end of the day, the numbers speak for themselves, and the fact that he is currently a leading goal scorer on this team is concerning big-picture-wise but proving valuable to them in the present.