The future of Victor Olofsson in Buffalo has been a topic of some speculation for a few years now but each time, the winger has stuck around. However, Olofsson told Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News earlier this week that he has approached GM Kevyn Adams about finding a new place for him to play:
I’ve got to play hockey and right now I’m not doing it. You always have to think about yourself and your career. I’ve always had a great time here, and I love it here, but I’ve got to think about myself obviously. If there’s an opportunity to go somewhere and play, that would be the ideal thing.
The 28-year-old has been a frequent healthy scratch this season and when he has been in the lineup, he hasn’t been able to produce at the level he has in the past. In 35 games so far, Olofsson has been limited to just four goals and eight assists. Last season, he had 28 goals on his own and has hit the 20-goal mark in three of the last four years, a mark he’s unlikely to reach now in 2023-24.
Of course, while Olofsson may be hoping to find a new place to play, finding a team that can afford him will be trickier. He has a $4.75MM cap hit and salary, a mark that not many contending teams can take on. Even with the maximum 50% retention, there are still several playoff-bound squads that couldn’t take the remaining half of the contract on, nor would they want to cough up any sort of return of significance and possibly take themselves out of the market for a more impactful player.
Accordingly, it’s quite possible that Olofsson’s best chance to leave the Sabres is to find a non-playoff team that can afford his contract. More specifically, a team with some injuries that’s looking for some players to fill out their roster or one with a similarly underachieving forward in a swap of expiring contracts. But even with that scenario, Olofsson’s request to be moved might not be able to be honored.
Instead of his platform free agent year being a strong one, it has been anything but. His hope was that he’d be playing for a big contract this summer but now, simply playing as a regular in a lineup somewhere appears to be Olofsson’s new goal.
What the hell happened? Didn’t even realize that drop-off occurred…
Buffalo has been a depressing place to play since… Well, at least since they had Ryan Miller. Arguably since Hašek.
As a habs fan, i would say sense the danny Briere era things havnt been great there. I say that as a non Frenchman aswell
To the Rangers for Goodrow. Buffalo takes Goodrow contract next two years at 3.5 million and Rangers take Olofsson full contract this year. Play him on top line at rw if he can make the transition.
Typical fan trade suggestion. Take your team’s garbage and bad contract for a guy who just might help them. Why would Buffalo or any team do that? Surprised you didn’t suggest trading Goodrow for Guentzel. Clueless.
Except Goodrow is actually regularly playing. He has missed 2 games all season. Olofsson has been healthy scratched 18 times. That should tell you something about each players value. One can’t stay in a bottom feeders lineup. The other is apparently “garbage” on the fifth best team in the league.
I’m not sure if the cap will enable a trade to happen, but if a team can get him AND utilize him to his strengths, then they’re going to be happy. His wrister got him to the NHL, and it’s still deadly; he can help any team needing a more potent PP.
Granato has done to VO, what Krueger did to Skinner. Remove him from his strength (PP Specialist) and try to force him to become something he isn’t (5v5 defensive forward).
Look to his plus/minus ratio and dont touch this, been -23 last year during the top 6 is around +10 tell a lot, to score goals he needs to cheat
If Buffalo’s defense actually played DEFENSE there wouldn’t be a problem carrying a shoot-first forward. Also, he’s +3 this year.
I do wonder if nashville could maybe make a deal of acquiring Oloafsson for Barrie plus a pick
Olofsson plus a 2nd or mid tier prospect to Blackhawks for a 5th round pick, 0 salary retained
How about the Sabres move on from Granato and bring in a coach that has actual offensive and defensive systems that work! The guy can score on ability alone (that’s all this team has that is getting them by). Adams is clueless on how to proceed past acquiring talent and having a coach that can push them into the playoffs!
Grantato can’t play goalie or defense himself; he can only work with what he’s given. I’ve watched a lot of Sabres games this year hoping to see that explosive team from last year reemerge from slumber; unless Clifton or Okposo is on the ice, there’s absolutely no penalty for the other team getting right to the net and disrupting the goalie.
Heck, even when someone crashes the net, it’s usually just some hurtful words and paddy cakes. Contrast with Philly which seems to chip someone on every sequence.
How is Greenway getting top 6 minutes in Buffalo? Good lord!
If Bettman had cared about fans he’d have told the Blackhawks that they need to buck up & speed it up if they want to host an outdoor game…Olofsson looks like a good risk compared to the talent-shy clods they’ve surrounded Bedard with on most nights…