Buffalo Sabres A to Z: Amend

Victor Olofsson has the opportunity to make up for an oddly disappointing season and earn his next good deal.

To get ready for the upcoming Buffalo Sabres season, I’ll be previewing most of those involved in the eventual successes and failures by going through the alphabet using a different word each time - a revolutionary theme if there ever was one.

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Amend

It feels weird to say that a guy who scored 28 goals has a lot to make up for, but this is the position Victor Olofsson is in as we head into the 2023-2024 season.

Olofsson had a career-high in goals last season, perhaps an overdue correction from shortened seasons of the past, notably 2019-2020 when he scored at the same pace then (0.37 goals per game) as he did in 2022-2023. It was Olofsson’s third 20-goal campaign in four full NHL seasons, although it was his third-lowest point total (40).

For a guy whose specialty is lighting it up on the power play and making opposing teams pay dearly for committing illegal offenses with his shot that’s easily one of the 10-best in the league, never before did a nearly 30-goal season feel so disappointing.