Aug. 20: Olofsson’s deal will pay him $1.575MM this season, PuckPedia reports. The team quickly confirmed his signing.
Aug. 19: According to a report from PuckPedia, the Colorado Avalanche are zeroing in on a one-year deal with unrestricted free agent forward Victor Olofsson. Olofsson represented one of the few remaining quality scoring options on the free agent market.
It’ll be a second straight one-year contract for Olofsson. He joined the Vegas Golden Knights last summer on his first trip through unrestricted free agency, reuniting with his former linemate with the Buffalo Sabres, Jack Eichel. He didn’t spend much of his time on the top line with Eichel, but he had a much better season than he did a year prior, scoring 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games, averaging 14:30 of ice time per night.
Still, it would’ve been difficult for Olofsson to have a worse season than his final year with the Sabres. In his last year with the club during the 2023-24 campaign, Olofsson mustered seven goals and 15 points in 51 games. It was objectively the worst season of his professional career, including his time in the Swedish Hockey League from 2013 to 2018.
It obfuscated the successful run he had with the Sabres earlier in his career. From 2019 to 2023, Olofsson was one of the better secondary scorers in the league, managing 81 goals and 163 points in 257 games with the Sabres. Furthermore, given that 56 of those points came on Buffalo’s power play, Olofsson was a notable offensive weapon with a man advantage.
The Avalanche have been stockpiling depth assets for the better part of two years now, and it’s easy to understand why. Colorado has dealt with considerable injury issues throughout the last few seasons, necessitating their need for more NHL-ready options. Last season, the Avalanche used 49 different players throughout the regular season, though they still finished the season as one of the better teams.
This means that Olofsson could have more access to playing time than he might otherwise expect. He’s certainly a better option for the Avalanche to use regularly than their recent acquisition, Daniil Gushchin, and is objectively a better option than Ivan Ivan.