Victor Olofsson has played better than many in the Buffalo Sabres faithful think, as he is currently on pace for 34 goals this season.
I have a confession to make: I am a big fan of Mike Harrington. Perhaps it’s because I grew up 45 minutes west of Pittsburgh listening to the polarizing Mark Madden on The X, but to me, Harrington is an honest journalist who simply calls things the way he sees them and doesn’t care if his opinion is unpopular.
Because he’s usually correct. And the following Tweet is all the proof we really need to realize that Olofsson has played far better than he’s been given credit for:
Olofsson is a player who has generated a lot of talk this year and I get it. But you have to reconcile all that people have said, much of which is true, with the fact he's on a 34-goal pace. Last I checked, you want 34-goal scorers. #Sabres
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) January 15, 2023
Yes, Mike, you want 34-goal scorers, and a lot of them. While Olofsson needs to be more consistent and needs to stop disappearing for stretches at a time, can you really justify trading a guy on pace to score 40 goals?
The Buffalo Sabres need to hang on to Victor Olofsson
I can definitely see why some fans want to move Olofsson, given his 23 points in 41 contests, and -10 on the plus/minus. But once again, you don’t move a lower liner who has scored not only 17 goals this year, but is also leading the team with an 18.1% shooting percentage.
Just yesterday I wrote an article that Tage Thompson led the team in that same category. A few hours after posting it, Olofsson surpassed Tage, and the latter dropped to second with 17.6%.
No, Olofsson isn’t a great player and probably never will be. The consensus is that he’s nothing more than a power play specialist. Oh, such lies. Olofsson only has 13 goals at even strength this season as opposed to four on the power play, meaning over 75% of his goals this year were at even strength.
He’s still a one-trick pony who won’t finish his career in Buffalo, as there will be better options in time. But as it currently stands, it would be foolish to move Olofsson at this point. Until the Blue and Gold find someone who can match that type of production or take over his role, Olofsson is staying in the Queen City.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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