3 years ago
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More than 3 hours aft the NHL began Friday night, the Avalanche yet made its first-round prime and chose Swedish guardant Oskar Olausson astatine No. 28.
Olausson, 18, played for 2 nonrecreational leagues successful Sweden past season, producing a combined six goals and 10 points successful 27 games. He besides played juniors for HV 71 Jr., wherever helium contributed 27 points (14 goals) successful 16 games.
“He fits our identity. We’re a squad where, obviously, velocity and skating and is simply a large portion for us,” Avs manager of amateur scouting Wade Klippenstein said of Olausson. “Very bully skater. Big body. Can score, sprout the puck. Just a batch of checkmarks with Oscar.”
Standing 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, Olausson was ranked 13th among European skaters by Central Scouting.
“Really bully metropolis (Denver) and a bully squad I privation to play with,” Olausson said successful Zoom league telephone from Plymouth, Mich., wherever Sweden’s World Junior squad is opening a showcase. “I deliberation my crippled volition acceptable successful with that squad truthful it’s going to beryllium precise amusive to play and I can’t wait.”
“Olausson’s skating posture allows him to effortless maneuvers done opponents with his apical manus successful afloat control, pushed retired from his body. You’ll seldom spot Olausson effort the aforesaid neutral portion unreserved doubly successful the aforesaid game. He’ll transverse the dotted line, alteration lanes and speed, and enactment well-timed value shifts arsenic a puck-carrier to get past the defender other him.” — Elite Prospects 2021 NHL Draft Guide
Olausson represented his state astatine the 2021 World Junior Championship, going scoreless successful 4 games. He besides helped Sweden to a bronze medal astatine the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, scoring a extremity successful 5 games.
Olausson, who said helium plans connected playing successful his homeland adjacent season, is the 2nd Swede drafted by the Avalanche successful the archetypal round, pursuing guardant Jonas Johansson successful 2002.
“I’m precise happy. (The Avalanche), it’s a precise bully squad for maine to travel to,” Olausson said. “Feels truthful bully and I can’t explicate it.”
Olausson was ranked 29th wide by draught guru Craig Button of TSN, and 32nd by TSN workfellow Bob McKenzie. He was ranked arsenic precocious arsenic 14th (Elite Prospects), which is wherever the Avs mightiness person had him.
Olausson was officially the 27th prime of the nighttime due to the fact that Arizona forfeited the 11th prime arsenic punishment for an NHL harvester investigating infraction.
“We had him a batch higher from wherever we ended up picking him,” Klippenstein said. “It was a small nerve-wracking arsenic our database was shrinking quickly. It was a nighttime wherever we expected possibly a small much chaos with our database and it was really beauteous choky but we were fortunate to get him. Again, helium was a batch higher than wherever we took him.”
Two highly ranked incoming University of Denver defensemen were not selected Friday. Shai Buium and Sean Behrens were ranked 20th and 24th, respectively, among North American skaters, and volition apt beryllium selected aboriginal connected Saturday.
Rounds 2-7 of the draught are Saturday opening astatine 9 a.m. MT, and the Avs person 3 selections — a second, a third, and a seventh.
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