Gustav Olhaver: Colorado Avalanche 2015 NHL Draft Profile
More from Avalanche News
- Jared Bednar pleased with Colorado Avalanche forwards
- Colorado Avalanche, Devon Toews headed in right direction with contract
- Could Colorado Avalanche move on from Pavel Francouz next offseason?
- 4 goalies to replace Pavel Francouz if he has to miss time
- Colorado Avalanche make sneaky signing with Tatar
The 2014-15 season was unfortunately cut short for the Colorado Avalanche. That means that here at Mile High Sticking, we have a long off-season ahead of us. While the off-season is filled with all different kinds of articles, regarding the playoffs (that we are unfortunately not a part of), Avalanche season reviews, and many other things, it also gives us time to focus on the Colorado Avalanche 2015 NHL Draft.
With potential tenth overall picks mostly covered, we are taking a deeper look at options in later round. Next up is Swedish giant Gustav Olhaver.
Name: Gustav Olhaver
Position: Center / Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Height, weight: 6’6″, 215 lbs
Team/League: Rögle J20, SuperElit
Stats (from eliteprospects.com):
GP |
|---|
G
A
P
PIM
+/-
41
6
6
12
10
6
Risk, Reward: 3/5, 3/5
NHL-potential: Bottom-six forward
Draft Range: 4th or 5th round
Scouting report
Gustav Olhaver is ranked as the No. 89 European skater by NHL Central Scouting. He has spent his entire hockey career in Sweden and joined Rögle’s U20-team as a 17-year-old.
Olhaver’s biggest asset, quite literally, is his incredibly large frame. He won’t turn 18 until July, but is already 6-foot-6 tall and weighs 215 pounds.
More from Mile High Sticking
- Jared Bednar pleased with Colorado Avalanche forwards
- Colorado Avalanche, Devon Toews headed in right direction with contract
- Will Valeri Nichushkin start slow for Colorado Avalanche in 2023-24?
- Could Colorado Avalanche move on from Pavel Francouz next offseason?
- 4 goalies to replace Pavel Francouz if he has to miss time
Despite his size, Olhaver is a fairly agile and well-skating forward. DraftSite’s Bill Placzek says that it is “rare to find players (Olhaver’s) size with strong leg drive and balance.” His hands, passing and shot are decent, but his offensive game could need some overall improvement.
Once he gets to top-speed, Olhaver is hard to slow down. According to Placzek, “he is tough to match-up against oblong the wall and in the front, where he drives hard and fights for the rebounds.” However, just like basically any other European prospect, especially at his size, he has to develop a more physical, punishing style.
Olhaver has not scored a lot of goals and points this past season, but he played well considering that most of his opposition is three years older. He scored 14 goals and 25 points in 18 games for Rögle’s U18, before he joined the U20.
Fit with the Avalanche
Puck Prose
Gustav Olhaver is a long-shot for any team that selects him. He will have to mature and improve in Sweden and possibly the AHL, before he can get a shot in the NHL. However, he likely won’t find a coach that would value him higher than Patrick Roy.
Roy wants size, he said so before and he will say so again. He called Joey Hishon out as being too small and would have preferred a 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 center. Well, how about 6-foot-6?
If Olhaver pans out the way teams will hope, he could develop into a heavy-hitting bottom-six center that simply punishes his opponents and score occasionally. Not like a goon as we used to have them in the league a lot, but rather as the skilled heavy-hitting forward that coaches are craving for in the modern days.
More Draft Coverage: