The talk of the last month and a bit with Avalanche fans was the need to add to the bottom-six. We went over some options in a previous article. One of those options was Joel Kiviranta, who extended with the club on a one-year, 1.25M deal a few weeks ago. Another was Victor Olofsson, who has reportedly signed a one-year deal with the Avs. Financial terms have not been released:
A look at Olofsson’s career so far
Olofsson was drafted in the seventh round of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. The 5’11”, 183 lbs winger spent several seasons in Sweden before coming over to North America in the 2018-19 season. He played in six games with the Sabres that year, scoring two goals and adding two assists. Olofsson played in 66 games with the Rochester Americans, Buffalo’s AHL affiliate, scoring 30 goals and 63 points.
Olofsson became a full-time NHLer in the 2019-20 season, scoring 20 goals and 42 points in 54 games. Olofsson scored a career high 49 points in 72 games in 2021-22, and a career high 28 goals in 75 games in 2022-23. After the 2022-23 season however, Olofsson began to fall off. He only managed 7 goals and 15 points in 51 games in his final season as a Sabre in 2023-24.
Olofsson headed to free agency and signed a one-year, 1.075M deal with the Vegas Golden Knights on July 1st. In 56 games with the Knights, Olofsson had 15 goals and 29 points. Olofsson frequented one of the two Vegas powerplay units, swapping with Pavel Dorofeyev on the right side flank.
Where does Olofsson fit in the Avs lineup
The Olofsson signing provides stability to a bottom-six forward group that desperately needed more NHL depth. The bottom-six did not look anything close to championship calibre after the departure of Jonathan Drouin and the trading of Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood. Now, with Olofsson and Kiviranta added, things look a a little more stable.
As Win Column Sports writer Ryan Ma notes, Olofsson will factor on the third line, on the right flank of PP2, and can jump higher in the lineup should injury occur. He’s a perimeter player, definitely possesses the best shot of the remaining free agents:
Olofsson will join the likes of Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Parker Kelly, Joel Kiviranta, Ivan Ivan, Matthew Steinburg, Daniil Gushchin, and Nikita Prishchepov as bottom-six options. Logan O’Connor will return to NHL action sometime in November or December and will factor as a key role player once he returns to the lineup.
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