DENVER — After taking a defenseman the past two years in the NHL draft, the Colorado Avalanche went in a different direction in 2021.
With the 28th overall pick in the first round, the Avs selected forward Oskar Olausson.
The 18-year-old made his debut in the Swedish Hockey League, the top professional hockey league in Sweden, during the 2020-21 campaign and recorded four points (3g/1a) in 16 games for HV71.
The Stockholm, Sweden, native most recently represented his country at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, appearing in four games in his first time at the tournament. He also helped Sweden to a bronze medal at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, recording a point (1g/0a) in five tournament contests.
Olausson is the third player the Avalanche has selected from a Swedish league in the first round of the NHL Draft in franchise history and the first since drafting Jonas Johansson, also from HV71, at No. 28 in 2002.
