Total Season Stats: 54 GP | 20 G | 22 A | 42 PTS
Age: 24
Contract Status: Pending RFA
Will it ever be boring to watch Victor Olofsson stand in the right face off circle and fire away one timers on the powerplay on a feed from Jack Eichel? For most, if not all, Sabres fans the answer will be “no!”.
The first glimpses of what Olofsson would be able to do at NHL level came during the last part of the 18-19 season when was called up from Rochester for a short cameo for six games, where he ended up with four points. But that he would follow that up with 20 goals and 22 assists in only 54 games during his rookie season was maybe not expected.
For a rookie, those are really good numbers, especially given that he ended the season with only two points in his last nine games. 11 of his goals came on the power play and is no stretch to believe he would have had surpassed the 30 goal mark if he had stayed healthy.
Looking beyond just the goals and assists, it was clear that Olofsson still has work to do on the defensive part of his game, especially without the puck. This is not that surprising given his rookie status and that the best part of Olofsson always has been his offensive upside.
Olofsson played most of the season on a line with Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart, but ended it with Marcus Johansson and Dominik Kahun. It will be interesting to see where Ralph Krueger finds a spot for his hard shooting Swede next season when it comes to 5-on-5 lines.
Season grade: A