from Bob Condor of te Seattle Kraken website,

In a strong move to boost Kraken scoring punch and signal a win-more-games intent for the coming season, GM Ron Francis acquired Columbus leading scorer Oliver Bjorkstrand Friday in trade that sent two 2023 draft picks to the Blue Jackets. The draft picks for next July are a third-round choice acquired from Calgary in the Calle Jarnkrok trade and a fourth-rounder acquired from Winnipeg in the Mason Appleton trade.

When Columbus signed NHL top scorer Johnny Gaudreau for nearly $10 million per season on the first day of the free agency period July 13, the Eastern Conference franchise was expected to ship out at least one star player to stay under the league's salary cap. The Kraken and its fan base are the happy recipients of the anticipated transaction with Bjorkstrand heading west. The 27-year-old right wing is signed through the 2025-2026 season at a team-friendly $5.4 million average annual value or AAV.

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