The Columbus Blue Jackets signed restricted free-agent forward Oliver Bjorkstrand to a three-year contract on Sunday, the club announced. His new deal carries an annual average value of $2.5 million, according to Brian Hedger of BlueJackets.com.

"Oliver is a gifted player with a tremendous shot and scoring instincts who has improved steadily during his first three seasons as a pro," Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "He is just scratching the surface of the type of player he can be and we believe he has the potential to be a dynamic offensive player for our club."

Bjorkstrand tallied 11 goals and 29 assists in 82 regular-season games for the Blue Jackets last year, chipping in with one goal and two assists in six playoff games.

The Denmark native was a prolific scorer in lower levels, winning WHL player of the year honors in 2014-15 after racking up a ridiculous 63 goals and 55 assists in 59 games for the Portland Winterhawks. It will be very interesting to see if Bjorkstrand can continue to develop his game at the NHL level.

He was drafted by Columbus in the third round of the 2013 draft (89th overall).

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Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Age is just a number as far as Ilya Kovalchuk is concerned.

The newest member of the Los Angeles Kings was on hand to speak to reporters on Saturday and said he still expects to play at an elite level through the duration of his contract.

"When I was making my decision, it was all about hockey because I have three or four years left in my tank where I can really play at a high level," Kovalchuk said, according to Jon Rosen of LAKingsInsider.com. "L.A. has a great group of guys. Like I said, great goaltending, great defense, and they have one of the best centers in the league. I never had a chance to play with those kinds of guys, so it's really exciting for me."

This season will mark Kovalchuk's return to the NHL after five years spent with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. The former 1st overall pick of the Atlanta Thrashers - who averaged over 40 goals per 82 games in the NHL - is confident he'll be able to produce thanks in large part to the talent surrounding him in L.A.

"The last few years I was still in the same caliber like I was, so I feel comfortable," Kovalchuk said. "Especially when you play with the guys like Kopitar, Doughty, Carter, Brown, those guys, they make it even easier to get the points and the goals. We just need to work really hard and be a good team. It doesn't matter really who's going to score."

Kovalchuk will be relied on heavily to produce offense after a season that saw the Kings finish 16th in the regular season in goals. The campaign concluded with a first-round sweep to the Vegas Golden Knights after the team managed a mere three goals. Adding the KHL's reigning points leader should help address that.

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Columbus Blue Jackets restricted free-agent defenseman Ryan Murray accepted his one-year qualifying offer and will be paid $2.825 million for the 2018-19 season, the team announced Saturday.

Murray, the club's second overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, has failed to live up to the hype of being such a high selection, but will get a chance to prove himself on a one-year deal. He'll be an RFA once again next summer, but will have arbitration rights.

Injuries are the main reason Murray has been labeled as a draft bust. Over the last two seasons, he's missed 64 games. In 2014-15, he only made 12 appearances in the Blue Jackets' lineup.

However, it wouldn't be surprising if Murray, who will be 25, excels next season if he can have an injury-free year. After all, defensemen tend to take longer to develop compared to forwards, and his growth has presumably been hindered by all the time he's missed.

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The Ottawa Senators apparently didn't include much bonus money in their offer to Erik Karlsson.

While the club's contract-extension pitch to the superstar defenseman was closer to $11 million than $10 million per season, it came up short in the area of signing bonuses, a source with knowledge of the offer told The Athletic's Chris Stevenson for a story published Friday.

The Senators reportedly made the offer to Karlsson on July 1, and Ottawa reportedly gave other teams permission to negotiate with the stud blue-liner shortly thereafter.

The lack of sizable signing bonuses would run in stark contrast to the deal John Tavares signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tavares will receive more than half of his new $77-million contract ($44 million) in the first three years of the seven-year pact, and he'll earn less than $1 million per campaign in terms of actual salary in all seven of those years, with the vast majority of his earnings coming by way of bonuses.

The Leafs' newest star forward isn't the only player to sign a bonus-heavy deal in anticipation of a potential work stoppage in 2019, as most of Connor McDavid's $100-million contract with the Edmonton Oilers will be paid by way of upfront money over an eight-year term when it kicks in during the upcoming season.

Talk of a possible lockout or strike in 2019-20 has persisted because both the NHL and the NHLPA can opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement on separate dates in September 2019, even though the CBA runs through the 2021-22 season.

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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski took the lead with 25 points, and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer was at 24 points after the first round of the American Century Championship on Friday.

Twelve players were within seven points of Pavelski in the modified Stableford scoring event, including baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz (21), Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry (18), former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (18), Denver Broncos quarterback Case Keenum (18) and actor Alfonso Ribeiro (18).

The scoring system awards six points for eagle, three for birdie, one for par, zero for bogey and minus-two for double bogey or worse.

Pavelski, who has spent his entire 12-year NHL career with San Jose, is making his third appearance in the event. He finished 10th in 2016 and tied for 12th in 2017.

Three-time defending champion Mark Mulder finished eagle-birdie-birdie, worth 12 points, and was in a group at 16 along with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Charles Barkley, a fan favorite, was in his usual spot, alone in last place among the field of 92 with minus-34 points.

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