Boston Bruins: Stage is set for Anders Bjork to truly break out in 2020-21

All the ingredients are there for Anders Bjork to truly flourish in 2020-21.

There is no doubt that Anders Bjork has been somewhat of a slow burn for the Boston Bruins, a tantalizing thriller novel that starts off slow but promises to speed up and deliver with a bang.

Well, kind of, because the Anders Bjork story is kind of a complicated one.

He actually entered the National Hockey League in explosive fashion for the Bruins, showing glimpses of his high-end potential with 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 30 regular season games in 2017-18 while logging 12:21 of ATOI, not to mention logging respectable Corsi (CF%) and Fenwick (FF%) percentage scores of 54.0 and 52.4.

More from Puck Prose

• Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
• This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
• 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
• 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

However, a shoulder injury suffered in a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 30, 2018, ended Bjork’s rookie year with the winger forced to undergo surgery and navigate a six-month rehabilitation period.

And that same shoulder injury has almost acted like Kryptonite to Bjork’s NHL career thus far, with the talented forward struggling to really unlock his potential on the biggest stage.

He put up just one goal and two assists for three total points in 20 games in 2018-19 with a plus/minus rating of -1, spending the majority of the year in the American Hockey League with the Providence Bruins.

But, form is only temporary and class is permanent as the old saying goes and, therefore, it shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone that Bjork began to hit the comeback trail in 2019-20.

Given his largest audition to impress in the NHL yet, the left shot recorded career-highs in games played (58), goals (9), assists (10), points (19), plus / minus (5), shooting percentage (13.6%) and ATOI (12:56).

Bjork finally began to show why the Boston Bruins have remained so patient with the No. 146 overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, proving that he does have what it takes to shine on the biggest stage and become a big part of this B’s core going forward.

His Goals Per Game percentage shot up to 0.16, as did his Assists Per Game percentage (0.17), while he also set career-highs in hits (43), blocked shots (21) and Takeaways (21), showing marked improvement across the board.

And, while Bjork did only put up one point (1 A) in 10 postseason games during the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there is enough evidence there to suggest that the left winger will have his best year yet in 2020-21.

For starters, he has appeared to put that shoulder injury well and truly behind him and he will no doubt be full of confidence in the wake of a resurgent 2019-20 season where he began to prove a lot of his doubters wrong.

Secondly, Bjork is set for a much bigger role to at least start the 2020-21 NHL season with two of Boston’s big-hitters in Brad Marchand (sports hernia) and David Pastrnak (right hip) set to miss the first chunk of the new year after both undergoing surgery during the offseason.

Marchand is expected to be back by mid-January but Pastrnak isn’t due to be fully healthy until the midway point of February, so there will be spots open in that normally loaded top-six forward group.

One of those roster spots should go to Anders Bjork who has had to make the best of a bottom-six role for much of his career in the NHL thus far, and he could either find himself on a line with Patrice Bergeron or with David Krejci.

Not a bad couple of elite NHL pivots to be paired with.

Whichever center Bjork starts the 2020-21 NHL season with, he should see an increase in both his ice time and his opportunities to impress in the offensive zone, leading to a potential hot start.

After all, it is no secret that Bjork is blessed with natural talent and he has the skills, the speed and the offensive instinct to really succeed and thrive as a top-six forward in the NHL.

He just hasn’t had the opportunity to do so yet but, playing alongside Bergeron or Krejci, who both boast elite playmaking abilities and can make things happen out of nothing, we could really see Bjork’s full and scary potential unlocked in 2020-21.

Also, once both Marchand and Pastrnak does return, Bjork could still benefit from playing on the third-line given that he will likely have veteran winger Craig Smith alongside him, who signed a three-year, $9,300,000 contract with the Bruins during Free Agency.

Smith is a two-way winger who can make an impact in all three zones, and his presence should free up Bjork and allow the creative force to really focus on wreaking havoc in the offensive zone.

Finally, it is important to remember that Bjork is still only 24-years-old so his best years and his prime years are still very much ahead of him, while his 6-foot-0 and 190 pounds frame allows him to deal with the most physical of defensemen while still playing his natural game.

Overall, with the Boston Bruins at the point in their win-now window where they need their young guns and brightest prospects to start stepping up and taking more of the burden away from an aging core, the stage is set for Anders Bjork to carve out a true breakout year in 2020-21 and the winger is on the cusp of unleashing his full potential and his full set of skills on the NHL.

So, don’t be surprised to see a 40 or 50 point campaign from the Wisconsin native in 2020-21.