Twenty minutes before practice began Thursday, Anders Bjork was on the ice in KeyBank Center firing one-timer after one-timer on net to continue an offseason routine the Buffalo Sabres winger used to try to eliminate a bad habit that hindered him last season.
“My main focus this summer was getting my hockey-skill confidence back and building that back up a bit,” he said after staying on the ice long after practice ended. “I’ve noticed my game has been a little hesitant with the puck at times, which has gotten me in trouble.”
Bjork has a level of self-awareness that can only be gained through experience in the NHL. At 26 years old, he has appeared in 211 regular-season games with the Sabres and Boston Bruins. He has been in top- and bottom-six roles. His resume also includes extensive work on the penalty kill, particularly in Boston where the only path to playing time for prospects was as a spark plug on the third or fourth line. He's competed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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The Bruins thought highly enough of Bjork’s potential in 2020 that he received a contract extension with a $1.6 million salary cap hit per season. He’s a fast, skilled player with a heavy left-handed shot. But now entering the third and final year of his contract, Bjork is fighting to earn a spot in the Sabres’ suddenly deep, talented lineup.
This is a critical training camp for Bjork. He knows he’s been surpassed on the depth chart since arriving from Boston in the trade that sent Taylor Hall to the Bruins at the deadline in 2021. Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka are the latest prospects to graduate to Buffalo and appear to be locked into roster spots entering the final preseason game Friday night in Pittsburgh.
Bjork isn’t bitter, though. He’s determined to carve out a full-time role in the NHL and show the Sabres that he still has plenty to give after totaling five goals and eight points in 58 games last season. In uncertain times, he’s leaning on the work ethic that helped him get drafted by the Bruins out of Notre Dame in 2014.
“We’ve got a lot of talented players here, so guys can move ahead of you quickly and that’s sort of happened to me here a bit,” he said. “Sometimes you’re thinking too much and you feel like you’re trending downward, which is a normal thought for a pro athlete sometimes. You have to work against that.
"The best players go through it and find a way to get past it and build confidence and make it more solid so it’s not wavering as much during the ups and downs of the season because they do happen to every player. The extent of it varies, obviously. I always go back to working hard. I feel like if you put in time and effort and focused time working on things that you’re not confident on, you will improve on confidence with that.”
Bjork needs to attack more when he has the puck, as he did when he first joined the Sabres. He was finding time and space on offense in the final weeks of the 2020-21 season when Don Granato was Buffalo’s interim coach. Bjork averaged 17:01 of ice time – almost five minutes more per game than his four seasons in Boston – and scored three goals with six points in 15 games.
A prominent role seemed inevitable for Bjork at the start of last season. His skill set meshed well with Granato’s system and the Sabres’ personnel. But Bjork couldn’t gain traction while learning how to apply his strengths into different roles. After scoring three goals in his first 13 games, Bjork had two over his last 45 games and recorded only 34 shots on net during that span. He was a healthy scratch for 19 of 20 games from March 6 through April 14.
“That was tough,” he said of sitting out. “That was one of the tougher times being out for a pretty extended period of time. It was a learning experience for me, and I kept thinking when I get back in, I’ve got to show I’m a player, and even if I’m sitting out, I’m gonna come back in and make an impact.”
Bjork, a restricted free agent in the summer of 2023, was shaken but not broken by the coaches’ decision. He received advice and words of encouragement from several teammates, including Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons. Winger John Hayden, who signed with the Seattle Kraken in the summer, spoke from a perspective that resonated with Bjork. Hayden has been in the same situation as Bjork, fighting to carve out a full-time job in the NHL. Hayden urged Bjork to stay focused and committed to improving.
When Bjork got back into the lineup, he made an immediate impact with one goal on seven shots in his first three games. There were still moments of hesitation, though. He would hold onto the puck too long rather than getting a shot on net or making a play to a teammate.
“He’s in the league and that’s a great spot to be and you've just got to ready,” Granato said of Bjork before transitioning to speaking generally about players who are not in the lineup. “When there is opportunity, that window of opportunity, you’ve got to be able to seize it and perform to the point that coaches make decisions that you can’t take the guy out type of thing. I think that’s where he’s had a career that’s of some length now and that’s really the finally step for any player to consistency. … If you want consistency in the lineup, contribute to the level coaches and management don’t want to take you out.”
Barring injury, there doesn’t appear to be a path for Bjork to be in the lineup when the regular season begins Thursday against Ottawa. With Quinn and Peterka expected to make the team, Bjork is still behind Vinnie Hinostroza and other forwards. Even a roster spot isn’t guaranteed for Bjork because the Sabres could opt to keep eight defensemen to protect someone like Chase Priskie from waivers.
Bjork would require waivers if assigned to Rochester and, if he clears, would be paid the same salary he would receive in Buffalo: $1.8 million. It’s unlikely the Sabres would want to risk losing him for nothing or pay an AHL player that amount, but rosters must be set for each NHL team by 5 p.m. Monday. Only one exhibition game remains, and if Bjork is in the lineup against the Penguins, he wants to show that he belongs.
“There were nerves and stuff like that,” Bjork said, recounting his emotions at the start of training camp. “Probably more than the usual camp for me, but I want to come in guns-a-blazing. … Tomorrow, if I’m playing, I want to come out guns blazing and show that fire in my game that I have the ability to show at times, the attacking mentality. … Each day, I’m just trying to improve and show that I have more in the tank for this team and this organization.”
