Timra has a preseason game today at 11AM ET. Olofsson is listed as the 13th forward.
He must not be coming to rookie camp then, which makes sense, he's not signed.
Honestly, I never even considered Olofsson coming for the rookie camp. It is rare for Habs do bring in the Euro players to Rookie or main camps, though.
They bring them for development camp because it's in the middle of the summer. But Euro players are usually left in Europe during the two main camps because their seasons start at that time. Vejdemo was left there, Ylonen was left there, Norlinder was left there the last two years, etc. We know KHL players can't come like was the case with Romanov and Khisamutdinov, and now includes Gordin and Kostenko.
We're getting Norlinder this year, who can go back. But he will be given a real shot at making the team.
But the last time they brought a Euro over to the camps only to send him back to Europe was Colberg if I'm not mistaken. And I think the back-and-forth made him lose his spot in his European team and thus wasn't able to progress.
He must not be coming to rookie camp then, which makes sense, he's not signed.
Honestly, I never even considered Olofsson coming for the rookie camp. It is rare for Habs do bring in the Euro players to Rookie or main camps, though.
They bring them for development camp because it's in the middle of the summer. But Euro players are usually left in Europe during the two main camps because their seasons start at that time. Vejdemo was left there, Ylonen was left there, Norlinder was left there the last two years, etc. We know KHL players can't come like was the case with Romanov and Khisamutdinov, and now includes Gordin and Kostenko.
We're getting Norlinder this year, who can go back. But he will be given a real shot at making the team.
But the last time they brought a Euro over to the camps only to send him back to Europe was Colberg if I'm not mistaken. And I think the back-and-forth made him lose his spot in his European team and thus wasn't able to progress.
In the last 3 preseason games he's been on the 4th line, press box and 13th forward. At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if he's back in Allsvenskan.
Timmins said as much, he said he felt they made a mistake in bringing Collberg over as he missed the start of the season and when he went back to Frolunda he lost his spot and ended up on the 4th line not playing much. Which is why I said it makes it so much more odd that they are doing the same thing to Norlinder, though he's much better in terms of SHL play and older, so if he goes back he won't lose his spot.
One thing for sure - the fact that this year, he's starting on the 4th line in the SHL.. isn't saying much for his progression.
Kostenko - 0 pts, 4 shots, Even, 16:24 TOI.
Out of the 8 D, 6 played between 16-17ish mins. In 9 games he's played 16 or more mins in 7 games so he's getting his time in.
Gordin didn't play again so he must be injured.
blame the SHL schedule makers, Olofsson's team played 3 games in 7 days and then had the next 12 days off.
Speaking of him, he already beat his last year total in 13 less games so improvement I guess?
At this point he has had similar production (better in PPG) to Collberg minus the WJC production (but obviously way better defensively), so he really need at good year to justify signing him at 22 years old.
Anyone watched him in his 3 games?
OT PS: I still don't understand how Collberg can't be a dominant forward outside of Junior. Even in the EBEL he was not top6 level in ppg. Even in DEL2 he was far from a top player.
He seems to finally be finding his offensive game at the SHL level. I guess I'll have to watch a few Timra games now to make sure.
To me, Olofsson is the poster boy for '' great toolbox but he doesn't do much with it'' in our prospect pool, which is why I've always kept a sliver of hope about him. If he can somehow put everything together he'd be worth an ELC .I don't know if Habs will sign him or not, but I've said it even when he was struggling that I feel he has interesting tools. The only thing not making him a well regarded prospect to most fans is that his offensive game isn't present. But at the same time, you can't expect them all to be offensive dynamos.
So far this early season, it seems he has found a rhythm in terms of production. The hope is that he keeps it up.
He already surpassed his production in Skelleftea from last year. He had 3 pts in 16 GP before he was sent to Timra. He now has 4 pts in 7 GP.
His biggest production in the SHL were 9 pts. He had 9 pts in 34 GP in 2018-19 with Timra. And he had 9 pts in 24 GP in 2019-20 with Skelleftea.
To me, Olofsson is the poster boy for '' great toolbox but he doesn't do much with it'' in our prospect pool, which is why I've always kept a sliver of hope about him. If he can somehow put everything together he'd be worth an ELC .
I'd argue Olofsson has a bit more hockey skill in his repertoire ( better hands, better shot) , although he doesn't use it much at all. You never see him really let loose, for whatever reason he had this very passive mentality drilled into him. Vejdemo on the other hand is vanilla incarnate, he's just straight meat and potatoes .Lump him into that Vejdemo group of players that have no single outstanding quality so they just become tweeners.
I don't know if Habs will sign him or not, but I've said it even when he was struggling that I feel he has interesting tools. The only thing not making him a well regarded prospect to most fans is that his offensive game isn't present. But at the same time, you can't expect them all to be offensive dynamos.
So far this early season, it seems he has found a rhythm in terms of production. The hope is that he keeps it up.
He already surpassed his production in Skelleftea from last year. He had 3 pts in 16 GP before he was sent to Timra. He now has 4 pts in 7 GP.
His biggest production in the SHL were 9 pts. He had 9 pts in 34 GP in 2018-19 with Timra. And he had 9 pts in 24 GP in 2019-20 with Skelleftea.
Lump him into that Vejdemo group of players that have no single outstanding quality so they just become tweeners.
He's been loaned as cover for injuries. I think Frölunda have something like 5 forwards out injured at the moment, at some point you run out of kids to call up from the junior team and have to look for help from outside.I'm not familiar with these loans, but what is the point in a 2 week loan to a team playing in the same league? I guess going to a worse team could make sense if it allowed the player more icetime, but to a better team?
Yes, please. Olofsson was drafted in 2018 in the second round by the Montreal Canadiens, but lately he has been stuck in a Timrå IK that is already struggling in the SHL-bottom.
One goal and three assists in 14 games played - and less and less playing time.
- It started very well at the beginning of the season, but then it has become less playing time and also dividends. Then I started thinking too much out there. It gets stuck, says Jacob Olofsson.
- I have come here to not think so much! I'm just going to run on my backbone, trust it - and that's when it works best! That's what I will try to find my way back to, to get a good feeling again, says Jacob Olofsson.
The Timrå player has been a member of every youth team over the years - and according to Frölunda coach Roger Rönnberg, the 031 club has had its eye on Olofsson for a long time.
- He's a guy we've scouted in a lot of games! We know he can play hockey - and now it's up to us to get him to play hockey in our way and at our speed. That is the challenge for him, says Roger Rönnberg.
Interview with him in Göteborgs-Posten a couple of days ago:
And from Roger Rönnberg:
Source: Frölundas lån om chansen: ”Kom som en chock”