Jackets acquire forward Olivier from Predators
Adding grit up front was one of the Blue Jackets’ offseason “to do” items.
More could be added in the next couple weeks, but the Jackets got started on it Thursday by acquiring forward Mathieu Olivier from the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL draft next week in Montreal.
The pick going to Nashville, slotted 122nd overall, was acquired in the Jackets’ trade in April 2021 that sent former captain Nick Foligno to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Blue Jackets now have two picks in the first round (No. 6 and 12), one pick in the second round (No. 44), one pick in the third round (No. 96), one pick in the fourth round (No. 109) and one pick in the seventh round (No, 203).
Olivier, 25, is a 6-foot-2, 209-pound grinder who’s spent most of his professional career with the Milwaukee Admirals, the Predators’ affiliate in the American Hockey League. He logged 10 NHL games this season plus three more in the postseason during the Predators’ first-round loss to Colorado.
Adding size, strength and toughness up front is an area of need for the Blue Jackets, who were bullied in several matchups last season.
Olivier is a fourth-line checking forward. He signed with Nashville in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and is from Biloxi, Mississippi.
In fact, he is a U.s./canada dual citizen and is the first player from Mississippi to make it to the NHL.
Olivier has 19 goals, 23 assists and 42 points in 156 AHL games over three years and has 3-4-7 in 48 NHL games, all with the Predators’ organization. He had one assist in 10 games for Nashville this season and didn’t record a point in the postseason.
Olivier had 14 penalty minutes in the regular season for the Predators and added 12 more in the postseason. During the NHL portion of his career, Olivier has spent nearly two minutes per game (88 minutes) seated in the penalty box.
There is one year left on the forward’s one-way contract, which pays him $750,000.
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