Avalanche Selects Oskar Olausson 28th Overall in 2021 NHL Draft

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club selected forward Oskar Olausson with the 28th overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft on Friday night.
Olausson, 18, 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. He began the year with HV71's team in J20 Nationell, Sweden's junior league, and collected 27 points (14g/13a) in 16 games before joining the senior team. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound right wing was loaned to Södertälje in Allsvenskan, Sweden's second-tier league, to finish the campaign, recording six points (3g/3a) in 11 outings. Olausson has totaled 47 points (22g/25a) in 48 career games in J20 Nationell, all with the HV71 organization.

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 forward Jonas Johansson, also from HV71, at No. 28 in 2002. Olausson is the franchise's 24th selection out of a Swedish league in franchise history and the 15th since the team moved to Denver.
Olausson was the 13th-ranked European skater in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for the 2021 NHL Draft. The NHL Draft resumes on Saturday, July 24, with rounds 2-7 beginning at 9 a.m. MT on the NHL Network.
Avalanche executive vice president/general manager Joe Sakic made the first-round pick at the
team's official Draft Party at the Breckenridge Brewery Farm House
.
Avalanche Draft Central has complete coverage of Colorado's 2021 picks at
ColoradoAvalanche.com/Draft
.