One of the original Coachella Valley Firebirds will be spending a fifth season with the Seattle Kraken farm club.
Defenseman Gustav Olofsson has signed a new one-year contract with the AHL team. The 31-year-old native of Boras, Sweden is one of three charter Firebirds, along with John Hayden and Ian McKinnon.
The 6-foot-3, 201 pound rearguard is also an important veteran presence on a young CV blueline. Firebirds general manager Troy Bodie said in a statement, “His leadership, professionalism, and consistency have helped establish the culture we’ve built in Coachella Valley.”
Olofsson earned his extension with a team-best +28 plus/minus in 48 games last year. A lower-body injury kept him out of the lineup for two months early in the season.
Olofsson’s Cup Of Coffee With Kraken
He has played four career games with the Kraken, three in 2022-23 and one more in 2023-24. A 2013 2nd round pick of the Minnesota Wild, he also played 56 NHL games for the Wild and three with the Canadiens. But most of his past four seasons have been spent in Palm Desert, where the weekend temperature is expected to peak at 114 degrees.
“The challenge is staying focused and not going into vacation mode,” Olofsson admitted to Palm Springs Life. “But it’s been really easy. During the longer seasons, too. If you’re in a funk or your team’s not doing well, and it’s cold and dark out all day, it’s harder to shake that feeling and get back to your winning ways.
“But here, the sun’s up every day. It’s easy to come to the rink, enjoy our jobs, and use that toward a positive and competitive environment and culture we built. It’s definitely helped to play in this type of environment and city.”
What else has helped is the reception the Firebirds receive from the Valley community. “Whether at the grocery store or shopping, people are so friendly to us. We have two younger kids, and we’ve gathered a sense of community here with our neighbors and within our son’s school. It feels like a little home away from home. And the fans are tremendous.”
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Prospect Wows At Team USA Juniors Scrimmage
