Montreal Canadiens: Top Five Centre Prospects

5. Jacob Olofsson

The Habs drafted Olofsson in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He was the second of six centres that the Habs drafted that weekend with their 11 picks. After taking Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first round, the Habs targeted a trio of Europeans in the second round as well. After selecting right winger Jesse Ylonen from Finland and Russian defenceman Alexander Romanov, the Habs grabbed Olofsson with the 56th overall selection.

The Swedish centre was known as a smart, two-way player at the time he was drafted. He had played for his country at the recent World Under-17 and Under-18 tournaments and performed well, scoring two goals and two assists in five games at the Under-18 event, while wearing an A on his sweater and being relied on the shut things down defensively.

In league play, Olofsson had scored ten goals and 21 points in 43 games for Timra in Allsvenskan. That is basically the AHL of Sweden. Olofsson was fifth on his team in scoring and helped them graduate to the Swedish Hockey League, the top pro league in Sweden.

In the past two years with the same team in SHL, Olofsson hasn’t been able to produce much offence. He had three goals and nine points in 34 games the season after the Habs drafted him and this season he had just two goals and nine points in 24 contests.

When he was drafted, it was hoped Olofsson’s offensive game would improve as he got older. Now 20 years old, he still isn’t improving his numbers on the score sheet all that much. He could still have an NHL future, but he would be more of a Jacob de la Rose than an Elias Lindholm.