The Colorado Avalanche have signed forward Victor Olofsson to a 1-year, $1.575 million contract. Olofsson is coming off the best season of his career with the Vegas Golden Knights after spending the first six seasons of his career with the Buffalo Sabres.
Olofsson was drafted in the seventh round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft before making his NHL debut in the 2018-19 season, when he scored two goals and two assists in six games. He scored 90 goals and a total of 192 points in 314 games with the Sabres.
Olofsson has consistently shown his offensive upside. However, he had a minus-63 rating in his career in Buffalo, which raised questions about his compete level and his lack of defensive impact.
Olofsson Reinvented Himself With Golden Knights in 2024-25
Last season, Olofsson scored 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games with the Golden Knights, putting him on pace for 21.96 goals and 42.46 points over a full season. While these numbers are not as high as his 28-goal career high in 2022-23 or his 49-point career high in 2021-22, it was still by far Olofsson’s best season in the NHL.
It is also worth noting that Olofsson finished the season in Vegas with a plus-17 rating, the first time in his career he has finished with a positive goal share. In 2024-25, Olofsson finished the season with a goal share of 23.06% higher than the Golden Knights’ overall goal differential at five-on-five and by far the best among Vegas forwards.
Related: 2025 NHL Free Agency Tracker
Olofsson also finished with the second-best high-danger chance percentage and third-best expected goal share percentage relative to the Golden Knights’ metrics as a team (via Natural Stat Trick).
Olofsson’s New-Found Versatility
Before signing with the Golden Knights last season, Olofsson had two different two-year contracts with the Sabres. His first contract was worth $3.05 million per season, and the second rose to $4.75 million per season. The 2024-25 season was the first time in his career that he was forced to take a pay cut. He was no longer producing at a high enough offensive level for teams to overlook his defensive liabilities.
However, his commitment to playing a complete 200-foot game last season, while still producing at a 40-point pace, makes him one of the better and most underrated players in this free agent class. If he brings the same attention to detail on the defensive end in Colorado, the Avalanche will be getting a ton of value on this contract.
