The Colorado Avalanche made another solid addition to their lineup this week with the free-agent signing of veteran left winger Victor Olofsson.
The former Vegas Golden Knights and Buffalo Sabres winger signed a one-year, $1.575-million contract, solidifying Colorado’s third line and adding offense to a team that already had all sorts of offensively productive players.
Olofsson’s signing is a clear case of the rich getting richer and the Avalanche cementing their status as a true threat to win the Stanley Cup next year.
The Avs’ group of forwards was already elite before adding Olofsson, but examine Colorado’s depth up front, and you can’t help but come to the conclusion – at least, in this writer’s opinion – that the Avalanche are the favorite to leapfrog past the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars and win the highly competitive Central Division in 2025-26.
When you look at the Avs’ top three lines, there’s no question they’ve got an embarrassment of riches.
Colorado’s presumptive first line features center Nathan MacKinnon, who had a whopping 116 points last year, left winger Arturri Lehtonen, whose 27 goals in 69 games were a career high, and Martin Necas, who averaged nearly a point per game after being traded.
On the Avalanche’s second line, center Brock Nelson provides valuable secondary scoring, with 26 goals and 56 points last year. Captain Gabriel Landeskog had four points in five playoff games last year while being a physical left winger, and Valeri Nichushkin had 21 goals in 43 games.
That brings us back to Olofsson. The 30-year-old appeared in 56 games for Vegas last season, putting up 15 goals and 29 points in that span. That said, he's had three 40-point campaigns before without logging heavy minutes, and he can supplement a power play. The players who’ll be expected to play on the Avs’ third line with Olofsson – center Ross Colton and right winger Joel Kiviranta – posted a combined 32 goals and 52 points last year.
Those are excellent numbers for Colorado’s third line. And the production of the Avalanche’s top two forward lines takes the pressure off Olofsson, Colton and Kiviranta to do any heavy lifting. That may push at least one of the third-line trio to get to the 20-goal plateau next year. Given Olofsson’s bargain-rate salary and Kiviranta’s $1.25-million salary, Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland has put together a terrific-value group of forwards that will be a handful for any opponent.
You might say Olofsson is next season’s version of veteran winger Jonathan Drouin, who resuscitated his career in Colorado before moving on to the New York Islanders this summer. But that’s somewhat of a stretch, as Drouin was more of a playmaker than OIofsson has been. Olofsson once was a 28-goal scorer with the Sabres, so he could get back to the 20-goal level next season.
And here’s one more thing to make you appreciate MacFarland’s work: after the Olofsson signing, the Avalanche have $1.3 million in salary cap space. If MacFarland hangs on to that amount of cap space and allows it to accrue during the season, he’s going to have $6 million to spend at next year’s trade deadline. That should be terrifying to Colorado’s opponents, because you know Avs brass are going to spend every penny available to them.
To be sure, the Jets and Stars aren’t going to lay down for Colorado or any other team. But piece by piece, the Avalanche have assembled a stunningly talent-rich squad, and they look all but guaranteed to improve on their third-place finish in the Central last season. Thus, Dallas and Winnipeg should be on notice – the Avs are a legitimate Cup threat and a clear-and-present danger to push those two teams down the Central standings.
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
