Fredrik Olofsson will likely play on opening night for the Colorado Avalanche.
However, the 27-year-old, born in Sweden and raised in Broomfield, isn’t boasting about the possibility.
“I’ll believe it when we’re standing on the ice there getting ready to go to war,” he said to DNVR’s Meghan Angley.
Colorado sliced their roster to 21 players Sunday, sending Ben Meyers and Sam Malinski to the AHL and placing Riley Tufte on waivers – who cleared on Monday. Olofsson outperformed Meyers for the fourth-line center spot.
“We brought him in because that’s where the hole is,” head coach Jared Bednar said to the press. “We want that player to be a responsible checker, someone who fits in with [Andrew Cogliano] and [Logan O’Connor].”
Bednar mentioned he was looking for someone to help with the penalty kill, and Olofsson proved practical in that category. Furthermore, of the 16 points scored by the Avalanche this preseason, three were contributed by Olofsson (one goal, two assists). This was an improvement from his two preseason games with the Dallas Stars last summer when he didn’t put up any points. Perhaps Colorado has that hometown feel and has given Olofsson an extra boost entering the new season.
“I think the environment has been good,” he said to the press. “I’m a guy who likes to come in and empty the tank and work every day, and the standard that’s here is that. Everyone comes in. Guys are staying, getting the extra work in. I feel like I fit in the culture.”
Random Thoughts
1. Here is my projected starting lineup for Wednesday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Kings.
Jonathan Drouin – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Artturi Lehkonen – Ryan Johansen – Valeri Nichushkin
Tomas Tatar – Ross Colton – Miles Wood
Andrew Cogliano (hopefully) – Fredrik Olofsson – Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Bowen Byram – Josh Manson
Samuel Girard – Jack Johnson
Alexandar Georgiev
2. Andrew Cogliano’s health could greatly impact the team’s ability to optimize LTIR. As we all know, Gabriel Landeskog is out for the second straight season as he recovers from knee surgery. If Cogliano starts on injured reserve, they can call up three players and be $8.9 million over the cap, within $100,000 of optimizing LTIR for Landeskog and Francouz. With that said, there’s a chance Cogliano won’t dress for Wednesday’s season opener. He suffered two fractures in his neck last postseason and shed his red non-contact sweater Sunday. As of Monday, Colorado has approximately $1.3 million in cap space. Could we see any more moves early in the season?
3. Meyers, Oskar Olausson, and Joel Kiviranta should be in the mix for a call-up when injuries strike. Bednar also spoke highly of Ondrej Pavel during his preseason outings. Kiviranta, along with Brandon Kozun, were on professional tryout agreements. so they have an opportunity to report to the team’s AHL camp. However, no decision has been finalized. The Avalanche are expected to revisit with them on Monday.
4. Mikko Rantanen is ready to go after dealing with a lower-body injury. Overall, we have a solid core this year, and our AHL team is full of talent. I expect this squad to make a good run in the playoffs. We just need to tighten up a little defensively and improve our offensive depth down the stretch.