Joakim Nordstrom finds new NHL home

By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com

Former Bruins forward Joakim Nordstrom has found his way out of the horrendous, brutal free agent market with a new NHL team after signing a one-year, league minimum ($700,000) deal with the Calgary Flames.

Nordstrom's departure from the Bruins was certainly expected, with the Bruins essentially informing the 28-year-old that he would not be a priority signing for the Black and Gold this offseason.

"We’ve had a talk with Joakim Nordstrom that it may be challenging for us [to re-sign him]," B's general manager Don Sweeney said earlier this month. "Had good communication with J.P. [Barry] on that front. But I made sure that I spoke with [Nordstrom], that I wasn’t going to be aggressive in trying to sign him for the short term.

"It didn’t mean we wouldn’t consider it, but I wanted to make sure he had an early heads up."

(The Bruins ultimately didn't seem to consider it, signing Greg McKegg to a two-way deal.)

The 6-foot-1 Nordstrom had spent the last two seasons with the Bruins, recording 11 goals and 19 points in 118 game. Not known as a point-getter, Nordstrom made his impact on the Boston penalty kill, with a forward-leading 1:46 of shorthanded time on ice per game for a kill that's ranked seventh in the NHL since 2018 (82 percent).