Colorado Avalanche land Victor Olofsson on a one‑year pact, adding veteran scoring depth as they navigate serious roster uncertainty and cap flexibility. Olofsson, 30, arrives after a 29‑point season in 56 games with Vegas, plus four points in nine playoff games, marking his first postseason exposure.

Drafted by Buffalo in 2014 (181st overall), he has 211 points in 370 regular‑season games with the Sabres and Golden Knights. The undisclosed terms leave a clear path for camp competition and a potential role that could yield immediate fantasy value if he earns top‑nine time or power‑play minutes.

Colorado signed Victor Olofsson to a one-year deal, injecting proven scoring depth into a stacked lineup. Olofsson produced 15 goals and 14 assists in 56 games with Vegas last season and posted the Golden Knights' longest road point streak, notching at least a point in 10 straight contests from December 4 to January 23. His playoff debut yielded two goals as Vegas advanced to the second round, and the 30-year-old winger reached both his 100th career assist and 100th career goal in back-to-back nights, underscoring his consistent scoring punch.

Olofsson’s career arc includes a 105-goal, 106-assist pace in 370 games with the Sabres and Golden Knights, plus a spot on the 2019-20 all-rookie team. A seventh-round pick in 2014, he brings Nordic experience and World Championship pedigree (Bronze in 2024 with Team Sweden). Colorado adds him as reliable depth, with a likely role on the power play and secondary scoring, potentially unlocking a meaningful fantasy floor if he lands on favorable lines and PP units in a deep Avalanche lineup.

For fantasy managers, the move signals a monitored upside. One-year terms create urgency for camp battles and line combinations. If Olofsson wins a top-six and PP1 slot, his value could rise quickly; otherwise, he remains a speculative depth option with upside in a potent Colorado environment.

Victor Olofsson is headed to Colorado on a one-year deal, adding a proven middle-six scoring threat to the Avalanche as the 2025-26 season approaches. The 30-year-old has 20-goal seasons on his resume and posted 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games with Vegas last year after a lengthy run with Buffalo that included a career-best 28 goals in 2022-23. Across 2019-23, he produced at a 25-goal, 52-point pace per 82 games with 32 power-play goals, underscoring his offensive punch and special-teams value. Now, in the thin early stretch of Colorado’s depth, Olofsson could provide another reliable winger for the middle six and contribute on the power play. His defensive numbers showed improvement after joining Vegas, a factor that could influence Bednar’s deployment if he carries the trend into the Avalanche system. In the playoffs, he logged two goals and two assists in nine games, mostly with the man advantage, signaling a potential postseason-role ceiling if he stays productive. Colorado opens the year without Logan O’Connor due to hip surgery, and the bottom six has at least one more vacancy beyond that, even after re-signing Joel Kiviranta. The top two lines look set with MacKinnon and Brock Nelson centering flanked by a mix of Necas, Lehkonen, Landeskog and Nichushkin, but Olofsson adds depth behind them. With Kiviranta back and Olofsson in the mix, Ross Colton, Jack Drury and Parker Kelly face competition for third-line minutes, improving Colorado’s flexibility and threat level in the middle frame.

Late-summer NHL chatter points to a quiet but potentially action-packed window between mid-August and September. The Pittsburgh Penguins sit at the center of talk about unfinished business, with others like the Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, and New York Islanders all watched closely as GM decisions and season-start evaluations loom. The Buffalo Sabres surface as a target in trade talk, while teams eye their own 2026 picks in potential moves.

On the marquee, Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s Sharks buyout prompts teams to consider whom to mentor and where to upgrade the blue line, especially with Orlov and Klingberg cited as cap-space catalysts and upgrades. Montreal’s rebuild stance is noted alongside Toronto’s offensive gaps bridged by Nick Robertson and Mitch Marner. The storyline underscores a season that could begin with a batch of calculated moves rather than a full-blown fire sale, with fantasy managers parsing goaltending tandems, defensive depth, and line-shuffling implications as training camps approach.

In fantasy terms, the focus shifts to how goaltending tandems hold up, who gains top PP time, and which underperformers might be displaced by late-summer acquisitions. The window could recalibrate value across several rosters, turning watchlists into wish lists as teams test early-season depth and role clarity before the calendar turns to October.