He plays leftwing, but he can also play center. He wears the #20 uniform on the Seattle Thunderbirds hockey team. He’s Gustav Olhaver, and he comes to the team from Angelholm, Sweden. Olhaver is a tall player, standing at 6’7. He weighs an impressive 220 pounds. His birthday is July 3, 1997.

So far, Olhaver has played seven games during his first season with the Thunderbirds. He has scored one goal and made two assists, giving him three points and six PIM so far. NHL Central Scouting ranks Olhaver as 89^th in European players eligible for the 2015 NHL.

Olhaver comes to the T-birds from the Swedish Junior League, where he played for the Rogle team. During the 41 games he played, he was able to score six goals and complete another six assists, giving him a total of 12 points while on the team. He has experience playing with the Rogle U-18 Elite and U-18 Allsvenskan teams as well as Team Sweden in the 2015 U-18 World Championship. Olhaver was one of the youngest players on the team. During the time he played with the Rogle U-18 Elite and U-18 Allsvenskan, his stats included a total of 14 goals and 11 assists, giving him 25 points in all.

During the 2015 NHL Draft, Olhaver was the 191^st selection during the seventh round, selected by Colorado Avalanche. In June of 2015, the T-birds acquired him as the 44^th pick during the first round of the CHL Import Draft. Thunderbirds general manager Russ Farwell was excited to announce the team’s acquisition of Olhaver, describing the man’s size as a key asset taken into consideration for signing him on to play. Farwell says that he expects Olhaver to serve as an asset to the team immediately due to his size and to develop his skills further with the team.

Olhaver says that his size makes him hard to move, providing him with an upper hand when playing against smaller players. He says that he, too, is excited to play for Seattle and has confidence in his skills with the puck. He affirms that he is a very physical player. He also assures fans that while he is a “threat in the offensive zone,” he also brings a strong defense to the ice.

Olhaver says it was always his dream to travel to North America and play hockey. When Avalanche first picked him, he saw it first on the television.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia