Nick Bjugstad

As a high-school player Nick Bjugstad declined an invitation to the USA Hockey NTDP in 2008, opting instead to stay with his Blaine High teammates — a decision that coincided with three straight trips to the Minnesota state tournament and earned him the Mr. Hockey award in 2009–10. He accelerated his coursework to graduate a year early, finishing high school in 2010.

Selected 19th overall by the Florida Panthers at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Bjugstad then spent three seasons with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Over that span he scored 54 goals and added 44 assists, helping the team capture two WCHA titles. He left college after his junior year and signed a three-year entry-level contract with Florida on April 3, 2013, scoring his first NHL goal on April 27, 2013 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bjugstad quickly became a regular in Florida, leading the Panthers with 38 points and finishing third in goals (16) in his first full NHL season, 2013–14. The club rewarded him with a six-year extension worth $24.6 million on December 31, 2014. After a 2016–17 campaign hampered by a broken hand and a lower-body injury, he rebounded in 2017–18, setting new career highs and recording his first NHL hat trick on March 6, 2018 versus Tampa Bay.

On February 1, 2019 he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Jared McCann in exchange for Derick Brassard, Riley Sheahan and draft picks. With Pittsburgh he settled into a third-line centre role and played in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. A core-muscle injury in October 2019 curtailed his 2019–20 season; after surgery he returned briefly in March before suffering another lower-body injury and missing the remainder of the campaign. On September 11, 2020 he was traded to the Minnesota Wild and posted six goals and 17 points in 44 games in the pandemic-delayed 2020–21 season, then re-signed for one year at $900,000 on July 5, 2021.

Bjugstad signed a one-year, $900,000 deal with the Arizona Coyotes on July 13, 2022. He was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers on March 2, 2023 along with Cam Dineen; Arizona received a 2023 third-round pick and prospect Michael Kesselring, with the Coyotes retaining half of Bjugstad’s salary. He produced 4 goals and 6 points in 19 regular-season games for Edmonton and scored a career-best three playoff goals in 12 postseason contests. He returned to Arizona on a two-year, $4.2 million contract on July 1, 2023, became a member of the Utah Hockey Club after the Coyotes’ assets were transferred at the end of 2023–24, signed with the St. Louis Blues on July 1, 2025, and was traded to the New Jersey Devils on February 4, 2026.

On the ice, Bjugstad is known as a big, adaptable centre who can play in top lines or take on defensive assignments in a checking role; he brings a heavy shot and physical presence. Off the ice he completed a degree in Business Marketing at Minnesota in 2014. His family has hockey roots — his father played at the Division III college level and his uncle Scott reached the NHL — and he carries a colourful nickname, “Rotisserie Chicken,” from a well-known team anecdote.