Confirmed with Link: Montreal Canadiens Acquire Gustav Olofsson from Minnesota for Will Bitten

[Le Barron de HF]

If a guy acquired isn`t fit, you just send him back.

It`s rare though because I believe teams share the medical information.

Seem to remember the Habs sending back a forward they claimed from the Flyers years ago
.

Yep Blair Betts, which lead to us trading for Nokelainen later on.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

He is waiver exempt unless called up and he is on the roster for 10 games or 30 days. So if the plan is to keep him in the AHL all year and only call him up for spot duty here and there then it makes more sense. If he's half way decent though he should be better then Benn and I'm not a fan of Juulsen in the NHL at all and I would even put Mete in the AHL although he's looked better then Juulsen and that's a different debate.

My point is they could done it so they got him for nothing, so giving up Bitten seems unnecessary.



He was on waivers before the final rosters were due, and while I would have sent Juulsen down, Benn would be fine to send down but that's if you don't put Olofsson on IR since he injured his shoulder in pre-season.

I believe they felt that in order to improve at his age he'd need to play regularly in the AHL as opposed to missing most of pre-season with an injury and getting thrown in to be a 6th/7th D/playing minimal minutes. For example say a skilled forward who had missed a lot of time with injuries was waived in a similar fashion, if I had the choice of the following I'd take the second option:

- Keeping that guy on the roster to have him sit in the pressbox or play minimally
- Give up a mediocre prospect and let the prospect play bigger minutes in the AHL with higher potential to improve

I haven't seen much of Olofsson, but I am just guessing they are high on his potential and wanted to give him a chance but felt he needs regular playing time in order to potentially succeed.

 

[1909]

I believe they felt that in order to improve at his age he'd need to play regularly in the AHL as opposed to missing most of pre-season with an injury and getting thrown in to be a 6th/7th D/playing minimal minutes. For example say a skilled forward who had missed a lot of time with injuries was waived in a similar fashion, if I had the choice of the following I'd take the second option:

- Keeping that guy on the roster to have him sit in the pressbox or play minimally
- Give up a mediocre prospect and let the prospect play bigger minutes in the AHL with higher potential to improve

I haven't seen much of Olofsson, but I am just guessing they are high on his potential and wanted to give him a chance but felt he needs regular playing time in order to potentially succeed.

And he needs to recover from his shoulders injuries and stay healthy.

 

[Adam Michaels]

He took part in today's Laval Rocket practice. Bouchard had said that Olofsson should be good for this week's upcoming games Friday and Saturday.

 

[JimboJay]

Still feel like MB must be cooking something up. Maybe Alzner or someone is on the move. To have Olafsson and Kulak in the minors seems very odd.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Still feel like MB must be cooking something up. Maybe Alzner or someone is on the move. To have Olafsson and Kulak in the minors seems very odd.

He'll have no choice but to act because sooner or later, Schlemko will return, not to mention Weber, too.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Turns out Olofsson is wearing the jersey worn by players recovering from injury. So what was said a few days ago about seeing Olofsson play this weekend no longer applies. Nothing confirmed yet but chances are we'll need to wait some more.

 

[Tyson]

Can we bring the 3 up and wave Benn, Alzner and Ouellet?

The one to keep an eye on is the guy they just got from Minnesota.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Kulak, but Fleury been's pretty good offensively and physically although I think Sklenicka has been better physically.

is that including Olofsson?

 

[26Mats]

is that including Olofsson?

too small of a sample size probably.

 

[montreal]

is that including Olofsson?

no, he only played a little over 1 game and didn't do much.

 

[Tyson]

no, he only played a little over 1 game and didn't do much.

He has been injured. I am sure once he gets some game action he will do well

 

[montreal]

He has been injured. I am sure once he gets some game action he will do well

yes he was injured in preseason and looks like he re-injured what sounds like a chronic shoulder injury if it's the same shoulder he keeps injuring.

 

[Tyson]

yes he was injured in preseason and looks like he re-injured what sounds like a chronic shoulder injury if it's the same shoulder he keeps injuring.

Habs may have acquired damaged goods

 

[1909]

Habs may have acquired damaged goods

Can the NHL cancel the trade ?

 

[montreal]

Can the NHL cancel the trade ?

I assume only if the Habs can prove that the Wild hid something about his medicals. It's so rare but I guess we'll see as they haven't said other then it wasn't the blocked shot and it was indeed his shoulder which I took to mean the one that he injured in the preseason.

 

[Runner77]

I had posted an account of Olofsson long and serious injury record, in this thread:

Unlike Reilly, Olofsson seems to have had quite the injury history. From an article dated June 26th 2017:

Olofsson likely would have stuck on the NHL roster sooner had it not been for a series of injuries, which included a torn labrum in both of his shoulders as well as a minor medial collateral ligament sprain in his right knee during the Traverse City Prospect Tournament last summer (2016)

Wild sign prospect Gustav Olofsson to two-year contract

And then this:

Olofsson was taken 46th overall in the NHL Entry Draft coming off a stellar season in the USHL for the Green Bay Gamblers (23 points in 63 games, +11 rating) which resulted in him playing in the NHL/AHL top prospects game that year and catching the eyes of Minnesota’s scouts.

Following the draft, Olofsson spent one season at Colorado College before signing an entry level deal with the Minnesota Wild and making the jump to the AHL. He played 8 games in Iowa to finish that year, and scored a goal in his AHL debut.

His professional career got off to a terrible start in his first season at Iowa, as he injured his shoulder in the first game of the season (his third such shoulder injury of his young career), which required surgery and caused him to miss the entire year of hockey

Entering training camp the following year, Olofsson impressed all of the coaching staff and had a real chance to make the Minnesota Wild roster as a 20 year old. He got a brief taste of regular season action in November 2015, but spent the rest of the season in Iowa again before requiring another shoulder surgery in February. His fourth major shoulder injury of his career.

Olofsson rehabbed that injury quickly, and was ready for training camp in fall 2016. Again impressive in camp, Olofsson sprained his MCL in a preseason game which cost him an opportunity to secure an NHL spot and was left in Iowa to start the year.

He impressed in Iowa through the 2016-17 season, recording 24 points in 59 games and earning 13 games at the NHL level with Minnesota where he managed 3 points at the NHL Level. His season was again cut short, though, with an undisclosed upper body injury suffered in March while with Minnesota.

2017-18 was truly meant to be the season of Gustav Olofsson. He made the Minnesota Wild roster out of camp following a season mostly injury free, beating out Kyle Quincey for the 6th defense spot. The return of Nate Prosser in November made for a more crowded team and Olofsson spent the rest of the year battling with Mike Reilly and Ryan Murphy for ice time.

In March, he was again struck by the injury bug as he lost time to a concussion at the worst time.

Minnesota Wild: 2018-19 Season Preview of Gustav Olofsson

Is it a stretch to believe that Minnesota decided to cut their losses and only made him available on account of so many major injuries suffered by Olofsson in such a short time? Four major shoulder injuries (including a torn labrum in each shoulder that required surgeries)? Followed by a lesser injury like the sprained MCL, however, there was that undisclosed upper body injury in March 2017 -- it was serious enough to cut his season short. And in March 2018, a concussion.

What did the Habs get into? This guy's injury history alone gives pause.

I know they didn't pay that high a price for him, but wasn't there enough of a track record here to assess this player as a high risk of injury reoccurrence and to steer clear?

Now it's looking more and more like the Habs acquired an injury-prone player in exchange for a healthy body.

This tweet gives pause:



TRANSLATION: This tryout (i.e. Ryan Sproul signed to the Rocket) is telling me that it's not auguring well for Olofsson (shoulder injury).

Was it a stretch to predict that a player who suffered, amongst several other injuries, a torn labrum in both shoulders, was going to have shoulder issues? I wonder how Olofsson got clearance from the Habs's medical staff.

 

[jaffy27]

I had posted an account of Olofsson long and serious injury record, in this thread:



Now it's looking more and more like the Habs acquired an injury-prone player in exchange for a healthy body.

This tweet gives pause:



TRANSLATION: This tryout (i.e. Ryan Sproul signed to the Rocket) is telling me that it's not auguring well for Olofsson (shoulder injury).

Was it a stretch to predict that a player who suffered, amongst several other injuries, a torn labrum in both shoulders, was going to have shoulder issues? I wonder how Olofsson got clearance from the Habs's medical staff.

In the end it may not amount to much since Bitten is unlikely to amount to anything much......BUT........having said that, giving assets away for free is not a good way of doing business.

This is not looking like a good trade, let’s hope for Olofsson’s sake (career) and Bergevin’s (reputation) that the kid gets healthy.

 

[26Mats]

Still feel like MB must be cooking something up. Maybe Alzner or someone is on the move. To have Olafsson and Kulak in the minors seems very odd.

No doubt he's trying to move Alzner. I would take on a contract with shorter term but a higher cap hit. I don't see us in cap trouble in the short term.

 

[Tyson]

In the end it may not amount to much since Bitten is unlikely to amount to anything much......BUT........having said that, giving assets away for free is not a good way of doing business.

This is not looking like a good trade, let’s hope for Olofsson’s sake (career) and Bergevin’s (reputation) that the kid gets healthy.

Most of us don’t care about Bergevin’s reputation

 

[Habs]

I had posted an account of Olofsson long and serious injury record, in this thread:



Now it's looking more and more like the Habs acquired an injury-prone player in exchange for a healthy body.

This tweet gives pause:



TRANSLATION: This tryout (i.e. Ryan Sproul signed to the Rocket) is telling me that it's not auguring well for Olofsson (shoulder injury).

Was it a stretch to predict that a player who suffered, amongst several other injuries, a torn labrum in both shoulders, was going to have shoulder issues? I wonder how Olofsson got clearance from the Habs's medical staff.

Comes down to iffy Montreal scouting, as per usual. You'll find the one scout who says 'Take Reilly' and the others who say 'King and Martinsen will improve the team greatly'. Unfortunately we have both types of scouts in the system.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Still feel like MB must be cooking something up. Maybe Alzner or someone is on the move. To have Olafsson and Kulak in the minors seems very odd.

Bergevin is cooking up depth and the pot is overheating/overflowing

 

[Paddyjack]

Comes down to iffy Montreal scouting, as per usual. You'll find the one scout who says 'Take Reilly' and the others who say 'King and Martinsen will improve the team greatly'. Unfortunately we have both types of scouts in the system.

How do you know it's not the guy at the top who disregard what scouts say about some player's problem?

 

[Habs]

How do you know it's not the guy at the top who disregard what scouts say about some player's problem?

It is the guy at the top, but we have notoriously bad scouting in the west, Crawford blows.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Bitten has 0 pts in 3 games while Olofsson has 1 assist in 2 games. Of course there is a 3 year age gap here. I'll be keeping my eye on Bitten and how he turns out cause this deal was all about shoring up the depth at D