Swedish defenseman Marcus Björk spent the past two seasons under contract with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. He played 33 games with the Jackets in 2022-23, but spent much of last season injured. When he did play, it was with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

After the playoffs – in which Cleveland lost in seven games in the Eastern Conference final to the Hershey Bears – Björk opted for back surgery. That’s kept out of action until now, but although his rehab has gone slower than originally hoped, he now feels that a return to action is just around the corner.

“It’ll be another two more weeks before I’m allowed to play in any games, but I’m already able do everything on the ice and I feel like I could already play now,” he said in an interivew with Swedish media outlet Västerbottens-Kuriren.

For the past two weeks, Björk has been practising in Stockholm with the top junior team of pro club AIK.

“It’s been really fun to get back on the ice while I focus a lot on getting my strength back,” he said. “The specialists after my surgery are in Stockholm, so I want them close at hand. That first practise it was incredibly fun to get a feel for hitting and game situations.”

A big defenseman, Björk feels his style of play is well-suited to the North American game and he’d like an opportunity to get back there. There’s always a market for a right-shooting d-man. As an example, media in Vancouver speculated just over a year ago about the possibility of the Canucks claiming him off waivers, and that team’s bottom-four situation is more perilous than it was a year ago.

However, having not played an NHL game in 19 months or a competitive game of any kind in close to six months, Sweden is probably his more likely landing spot for the remainder of this season, at least.

Björk has played in the SHL with Brynäs IF, the Malmö Redhawks and Örebro HK, but frankly, any team in the league could potentially show interest in him.

Coincidentally, AIK – the club where he is currently training – is also where younger brother Christoffer, a center, currently plays in HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league. In October, HockeyNews.se reported that Christoffer was trying to lure Marcus into playing for the team and the club is clearly interested – hence the invitation to help with rehab.

“I don’t know what options he has, but it’s stupid not to show interest,” said AIK sports director Niklas Persson. “He’s a good defenseman and if he wants to, he knows where we stand.”

Still just 26, time is still on Björk’s side and he wants what’s best for his career.

“I still want to develop as a hockey player and become even better and play as high up as possible,” he said.