Golden Knights winger Victor Olofsson will be out of action on a week-to-week basis with the lower body injury that’s cost him the last two games, head coach Bruce Cassidy said Monday. He’s not yet on injured reserve, but even if they moved him there, they wouldn’t have the cap space for a call-up unless he was placed on LTIR.
It’s a tough blow for the Knights, who are 3-2-1 through six games and fourth in the Pacific Division. Floating around a wild card spot is what most expected from them after losing a few key forwards, namely Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson, to free agency. But their pedestrian record has nothing to do with a lack of offense. It’s the opposite – their 3.83 GF/GP ranks sixth in the league. It’s subpar possession play and a poor showing from Adin Hill (4 GP, .851 SV%, 3.81 GAA) in goal that’s held them back so far.
Before sustaining his LBI, Olofsson looked like he would be an essential part of Vegas’ secondary scoring after inking a one-year, $1.075MM prove-it deal in free agency. The 29-year-old had managed three goals on 11 shots in four games and averaged over 15 minutes per game, his highest usage in three years. He’d logged significant time on the wing with both Tomáš Hertl and Nicolas Roy, and unlike what we’ve come to expect from Olofsson, his defensive impacts were substantial. His 55.4 CF% at even strength ranks as the team’s best by far, night and day, from his often subpar possession metrics over the first six years of his NHL career with the Sabres.
Last year was especially difficult for Olofsson, who was a frequent healthy scratch and had just seven goals and 15 points in 51 games for Buffalo. While he was never a true top-of-the-lineup player, he could at least score with aplomb, routinely shooting at or around 15% and breaking the 20-goal plateau three times in four years between 2019-20 and 2022-23. If he can get back in the lineup before mid-November, he’s likely got a shot at reaching those totals again in a Vegas sweater.
There hasn’t been a clear direct replacement for Olofsson thus far. Outside of the Golden Knights’ top line of Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel, and Mark Stone, their other forward units have been in flux for the first few weeks of the campaign. With center William Karlsson nearing a return from the undisclosed injury that’s cost him all of the season to date, don’t expect a corresponding transaction aside from his activation.
VO is easy to pull for … once you get to know his strengths and weaknesses. (He has big +’s to go along with mighty low -‘s.)
IMO, he was very sorely underutilized in Buffalo last year. The fact that he was grossly overpaid was not on him. Now that he’s in a system – and on a line – that will help to highlight his skills, I expected him to shine. Hopefully he is not out too long.