Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the daily column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day I will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2021 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow me on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Hockey Prospects is your new headquarters for everything “2021 NHL Draft”! We have a complete listing of our draft articles here. Today we bring you our Oskar Olausson Scouting Report.
Winger Oskar Olausson is playing in the HV71 system. He played 16 games in the SHL regular season and two relegation playoff games. All four of his points (three goals and one assist) came in the regular season. Unfortunately, HV71 were relegated and will play in the Allsvenskan next season. He also spent time with the HV71 Under-20 team putting up 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 16 games. Olausson also spent time in the Allsvenskan with Sodertalje scoring three goals and three assists for six points in 11 regular-season games. He also played two games in the qualification playoffs. Olausson represented Sweden at the 2021 IIHF World Juniors but was held scoreless in four tournament games.
A late-2002 birthday, Olausson started his 2019-20 season playing for Sweden at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. He put up one goal in the five-game tournament. Olausson helped the Swedish team to a bronze medal. He played 21 games in the J20 league, putting up seven goals and nine assists for 16 points. Olausson also spent time with the HV71 affiliate in the J18 league. He scored six goals and an assist for seven points in seven games.
Oskar Olausson Scouting Report
Left Wing/Right Wing — shoots Left
Born November 10th, 2002 — Stockholm, Sweden
Height 6’2″ — Weight 185 [187 cm/84 kg]
Skating
Olausson is an outstanding skater. He has a great first step and a nearly textbook-perfect stride. Olausson has outstanding acceleration and very good top-end speed. His ability to speed up or slow down while carrying the puck can be used to fool defenders. Once by them, he can drop his shoulder and cut hard to the net. Olausson also has very good edgework and agility. His turns are crisp and he is able to change directions without losing much speed. Olausson is already strong on the puck. This will only improve as he continues to add muscle to his frame. His balance is also good. Olausson can fight through checks as well as wins battles on the boards and in front of the net.
Offensive Game
Olausson has an excellent array of shots. He can score with his wrist shot, snap shot, slap shot, one-timer, and backhand. His hands are quick and his shots feature a quick and deceptive release. Olausson loves to shoot and will shoot from anywhere on the ice. He is a good stickhandler who creates his own shot off the rush and can quickly make a move on a defender to open up a shooting lane. That stickhandling also helps Olausson in the neutral zone. He pairs it with his excellent skating to beat defenders and generate effective zone entries.
Olausson generally works on the right-hand boards on the power play. With his left shot, he loves to take one-timers from the faceoff dot, or to walk off the boards and take a wrist shot. Olausson could be a better playmaker though. He doesn’t always make the right decisions with the puck. He can learn to move the puck quicker to open teammates. Olausson can sometimes hold the puck too long, skating into bad areas. When he does move the puck, its generally a short pass on the cycle game. He doesn’t try a lot of cross-ice passes.
Defensive Game
Olausson works hard in the defensive zone. He comes back and supports the defence down low against the cycle game. He also provides effective backpressure against the rush. Olausson digs hard in the corners for loose pucks and keeps his opponent to the outside. However, he struggles a bit away from the puck. Olausson can get caught flat-footed and lose the man he is supposed to be covering. There may be some aspect of puck watching and getting too focused on it and losing track of what is going on around him. Olausson is good in transition though, getting the puck out of the zone with speed and creating transition offence.
Projection and Comparison
Olausson has the potential to be a top-six winger at the NHL level but is a bit of a risk. He needs to be more consistent as there are games where he is excellent and others where he seems to disappear a bit. However, he has a ton of skills and a good work ethic. If he can be developed properly, his ceiling is high. He is a bit of a long-term project though as his hockey IQ is a bit of a question mark at this stage. Olausson’s game is reminiscent of Max Pacioretty but this is a stylistic comparison only, not one based on skill and ability.
Highlights
The following is a compilation of some of the highlight packages and features of Oskar Olausson that are available on youtube.
Check back tomorrow for our latest NHL Draft Article.
Oskar Olausson Scouting Report Main Photo:
EDMONTON, AB – DECEMBER 26: Oskar Olausson #24 of Sweden skates against the Czech Republic during the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship at Rogers Place on December 26, 2020 in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
