Sabres sign Olofsson to $6.1 million contract
BUFFALO, N.Y. » The Buffalo Sabres avoided an arbitration hearing by signing forward Victor Olofsson to a two-year, $6.1 million contract on Thursday.
Olofsson was a restricted free agent and coming off a season in which he finished seventh in the Calder Cup vote for rookie of the year honors. He was selected to the NHL’s All-Rookie team and had a chance to finish higher in the Calder voting if not for missing 15 games with a lower body injury.
The 25-year- old finished third on the teamwith 20 goals and 42 points in 54 games. Olofssonmost notably set an NHL record in becoming the first player to score his first seven goals on the power play.
Olofsson was scheduled to have an arbitration hearing on Nov. 4.
Selected by Buffalo on the seventh round of the 2014 draft, Olofsson was a late bloomer, spending four seasons developing in the Swedish Elite League before making the jump to North America in 2018 to play with Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester.
Olofsson’s signing comes after the Sabres locked up their two other arbitration- eligible restricted free agents before their hearings were scheduled this
week.
On Sunday, Buf falo signed forward Sam Reinhart to a one-year, $5.2million contract, and goalie LinusUllmark to a one-year deal worth $2.6 million.
The moves essentially settle a lineup that has undergone several offseason changes under first-year general manager Kevyn Adams, who took over after Jason Botterill was fired in June.
Adams’ most notable move was signing Taylor Hall — the top forward available in free agency — to a one-year, $8 million contract earlier thismonth. The Sabres also signed freeagent center Cody Eakin and acquired center Eric Staal in a trade with Minnesota.
The moves were made in a bid to upgrade a team in the midst of a nine-year playoff drought, the NHL’s longest active streak and one year from matching a league record.
Hall provides an immediate influx of offense to a team that had just three players score 20 or more goals, rounded out by Reinhart and captain Jack Eichel. Staal’s addition addressed the Sabres’ need for a secondline center.