Oskar Olausson signs contract with Colorado Avalanche

Oskar Olausson, the first-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche this year, has signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the club.

Olausson is expected to play again in Sweden this coming season. Here’s more, from the Avs’ release:

Olausson made his debut in the Swedish Hockey League, the top professional hockey league in Sweden, during the 2020-21 campaign and recorded four points (3g/1a) in 16 games for HV71. He began the year with HV71’s team in J20 Nationell, Sweden’s junior league, and collected 27 points (14g/13a) in 16 games before joining the senior team. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound right wing was loaned to Södertälje in Allsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier league to finish the campaign, recording six points (3g/3a) in 11 outings. Olausson has totaled 47 points (22g/25a) in 48 career games in J20 Nationell, all with the HV71 organization.

“He fits our identity. We’re a team that obviously speed and skating is a big piece for us,” said Avalanche Director of Amateur Scouting Wade Klippenstein following the selection of Oskar Olausson on July 23. “He’s a very good skater, a big body. He can score and shoot the puck. Just a lot of check marks with Oskar.”

“He’s a big, real mobile, good-skating winger who has a great shot and a knack for scoring goals,” said Avalanche Executive Vice President / General Manager Joe Sakic of Olausson following the 2021 NHL Draft. “He’s hard on the puck, takes pucks to the net, and we’re excited for that skillset.”

The Stockholm, Sweden, native represented his country at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, appearing in four games in his first time at the tournament. He also helped Sweden to a bronze medal at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, recording a point (1g/0a) in five tournament contests.

Olausson was the third player the Avalanche selected from a Swedish league in the first round of the NHL Draft in franchise history and the first since drafting Jonas Johansson, also from HV71, at No. 28 in 2002.