The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand to a five-year, $27 million extension, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced Wednesday.
The deal links Bjorkstrand to the Blue Jackets through the 2025-26 season. He had one season remaining on his current contract.
"When they started talking to me, you get excited," said Bjorkstrand, who estimated the deal has been in the works for a month. "It's definitely very nice to get something done."
Bjorkstrand, 25, led the Blue Jackets in goals (21), game-winning goals (five) and multipoint outings (11) and finished third in shots (162) while playing in only 49 regular-season games. He missed the final weeks of the regular season after suffering a sprained and fractured ankle in February but returned for the Blue Jackets' playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bjorkstrand had three goals during the five-game series loss.
He also missed the majority of January with a rib/cartilage contusion and oblique strain.
"You work hard and try to improve your game all the time. There's a lot of hard times, where you might be tired but you keep grinding," Bjorkstrand said. "Just very happy that I had the opportunity to sign that kind of contract and set up my future. Very, very pumped about it."
Bjorkstrand is entering his sixth NHL season after the Blue Jackets selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft. He has posted 65 goals and 68 assists in 246 career games.
"Oliver is a gifted player that has shown steady improvement throughout [his] career to this point and we couldn't be happier that he will be a Blue Jacket for a very long time," Kekalainen said in a statement. "He is a dangerous offensive player, and we believe he will be an even more impactful player for us as he continues to develop and mature in this league."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.