5 surprise winners for the NHL’s 2020 Calder Trophy
By Kyle McKenna
3. Victor Olofsson
A former seventh-round draft-pick might just turn heads in the NHL this season and take home the Calder Trophy. It gets better considering that this skater is a Buffalo Sabre, a team that’s selected more than enough first-round draft-picks over the past handful of season.
Victor Olofsson, 24, has been one of the league’s biggest surprises in 2019-20. The Swedish native opened the campaign with five points (4g-1a) in his first four games, and his six overall power-play goals are good for second in the league as of Monday.
Yes, all his tallies are from the man advantage, but this new-look Sabres team seems to be the right fit for the winger. He’s hungry to perform in a city that’s desperate to win, let alone clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2010-11.
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Olofsson has the advantage of playing with a player that’s entering the beginning stages of his prime years in Jack Eichel, and it seems that the timing was right for him and the Sabres to both succeed.
At 24, he arguably has an advantage over other future stars of the league, considering he’s naturally more developed physically and mentally at this point of his career.
Though, the reality was that Olofsson was not mentioned at all as a potential Calder Trophy candidate during the offseason, nor was he projected to potentially be a top scoring threat for Buffalo.
With Buffalo’s secret out, Olofson needs to adjust to seeing the opposition’s top skaters trying to shut him down on a consistent basis and he’ll need to start producing even-strength points.