Finally healthy, Penguins forward Kasper Bjorkqvist eager to show where his game is
Even in the midst of a global pandemic that had crippling effects on just about every walk of life, the 2020-21 season was an absolute joy for Penguins forward prospect Kasper Bjorkqvist.
That’s because he was playing hockey.
Bjorkqvist had been denied such a luxury for the bulk of the 2019-20 campaign due to a knee injury he suffered in October of 2019.
Subsequent surgery as well as the pandemic — which prematurely ended the AHL’s season in March of 2020 — snuffed out his first professional season right as it began.
Once Bjorkqvist had fully recuperated, Penguins management opted to loan him to KooKoo of the Liiga in his native Finland. While most leagues in North America were still on hiatus in North America due to the realities of covid-19, European teams were open for business.
“It was fun, for sure,” Bjorkqvist said. “It was a long time not playing games for me before that. We all love hockey, we all love the game. It’s fun to do summer stuff and training. But I missed that year and a half with rehab and stuff so it was just fun to play for sure.”
In 44 games with KooKoo, Bjorkqvist was that team’s fifth-leading scorer with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists).
“I think it was crucial to play games,” Bjorkqvist said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity that the Penguins gave me to play games over there when we didn’t know when the season was going to start here. When you’re injured, it takes time to come back and get the confidence back. The whole year was good for that. I’m excited to be back here.”
Bjorqkvist finished the 2020-21 season by reporting to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) after KooKoo was eliminated from the Liiga’s playoffs. In five AHL games, he scored one goal. For the Stanley Cup playoffs, Bjorkqvist was recalled to the Penguins’ NHL roster to serve as a “Black Ace.”
A second-round pick (No. 61 overall) in 2016, Bjorkqvist is one of the team’s leading prospects, albeit out of a limited field of candidates. A power forward who doesn’t mind getting under the skin of the opposition, Bjorkqvist’s ceiling at the NHL level is as a two-way third-line winger.
But at 24 years old, the clock is ticking. This past summer, after his entry-level contract had expired, Bjorkqvist (6-foot-1, 198 pounds) was re-signed to a one-year, two-way contract.
“He’s a guy that brings a sound defensive conscience,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s got good awareness, he’s hard to play against, he’s a big strong kid physically. I think he can compete. And he’s a contentious player. He’s positionally sound. He has good awareness away from the puck.
“We’re trying to push him to increase his pace of play. That will help him moving forward. The only way you do that is to get on the ice with NHL players with NHL pace. This experience during training camp for him is invaluable.”
For Bjorkqvist, who played three seasons at the NCAA level with Providence College before turning pro, adapting to the NHL’s speed is a multi-faceted process.
“You look at the pace here, the skating, everything is fast; decision making is fast,” Bjorkqvist said. “You don’t skate fast, you can’t really play fast. If you don’t think the game fast, you can’t really play the game fast. It’s probably a mixture of everything. Have solutions for different scenarios in your head. Know the outlets but at the same also just play with what you feel and using your hockey sense to make decisions.”
Considering he has all of 11 AHL games on his resume as far as professional experience in North America is concerned, Bjorkqvist will likely play the bulk of the 2021-22 campaign with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Given how highly he was drafted and his contract status, it’s fair to wonder if this will be a make-or-break season for him and his place in the Penguins’ future.
“The basic things are always going to be the same as always for me,” Bjorkqvist said. “Try to work hard, get to the net, score some goals at the net, play good (on the penalty kill), stuff like that. Hopefully, I get a chance to show where my game is at right now. It’s hard to tell and think about where your game is … (until) you play games. I feel really good. I feel excited.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.