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Thunderbirds grad Bjorgvik-Holm one step closer to NHL, signs entry-level contract with Columbus

 

Planning for a youth movement in the immediate future, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed defenseman Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm to a three-year, entry-level contract this week.

Bjorgvik-Holm was selected by the Blue Jackets in the fifth round (145th overall) at the 2020 NHL Draft.

This past season, Bjorgvik-Holm went for three goals and 12 assists for 15 points with 22 penalty minutes in 38 games with Manglerud in Norway and the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. He began the campaign in Norway’s top professional league and posted two goals and 10 points in 22 appearances. He made his North American pro debut with Cleveland on March 20 against the Grand Rapids Griffins and collected a goal and five points in 16 games.

Growing up in Norway, Bjorgvik-Holm said hockey was also his go-to sport.

“We’re a big skiing nation, but I grew up right next to a hockey rink, like 10 minutes away from my house, so I just started when I was three or four years old,” Bjorgvik-Holm told BlueJackets.com. “We came every Friday. It was fun, and I fell in love with it right there. I played soccer, too, growing up until I was like 14, but the sport for me was hockey. I had to make a commitment to either soccer or hockey, but it was hockey that I pursued.” 

The Oslo, Norway native spent the 2019-20 season with the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, registering two goals and 19 points over 57 games. In 2018-19, he suited up in two games for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, while also notching 21 goals and 53 points in 62 games with the Colorado Thunderbirds’ 16U AAA team.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound blueliner has represented Norway at several international tournaments. He skated in six games for his country at the 2021 IIHF World Championships, and also suited up for Norway at the 2018 and 2019 D1A IIHF Under-18 World Championships.

Bjorgvik-Holm played just the one season for the Thunderbirds and even had a commitment in place to play NCAA Division I hockey at the University of Denver, but ultimately chose the OHL after Mississauga chose him in the 2019 CHL Import Draft.

Photo/Terry Wilson/CHL Images

(August 18, 2021)

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