Final Grade: Mark Olver

This report card is a joint effort by Beachie, Sandie, Paul, SlamDunktheFunk and DDC. Stats courtesy of hockey-reference.com and NHL.com

Final Grade: C+

Position: LW (11 games), RW (5 games) C (2 games)

Lines: 2^nd (8 games), 4^th (6 games), 1^st (4 games)

Vitals: 5'10" / 170 / Age 23 / Shoots L

Drafted by Avalanche, 5^th round 2008 Draft

Joined Avalanche: Debuted on October 7^th, 2010 against Chicago

MHH Nicknames: Olvertine

Linemates:

LW:

• McLeod 4gp 0g 0a 0pt -2
• Porter 2gp 0g 1a 1pt -1
• Galiardi 1gp 0g 1a 1pt Even

C:

• Duchene 11gp 2g 5a 7pt +1
• Dupuis 4gp 0g 2a 2pt +1
• Porter 1gp 0g 0a 0pt Even

RW:

• Winnik 7gp 1g 4a 5pt +2
• Hejduk 5gp 1g 0a 1pt -3
• Koci 1gp 0g 0a 0pt -2

Avs with Olver in the lineup: 6-11-1 (.36 pt %) 2.61 GF 3.56 GA

Ice Time:

• TTOI 11:53 (15^th)
• EV 10:46 (15^th)
• PK 0:00 (17^th)
• PP 1:06 (11^th)

Career Highlights: Olver recorded his first NHL point on October 12^th against Detroit and his first NHL goal on March 17^th against Calgary

Report: A sleeper prospect the last few years, Mark Olver showed up on Avs fan's radar sometime last season as people began talking more and more about him being a potential impact player. Luckily for him, he was drafted by a team with a knack for losing half their roster to injuries so Olver not only got a healthy chunk of time to make an impression in the NHL, he did so on one of the team's top scoring lines, clicking almost instantly with Matt Duchene. Solid production and good, consistent play on offense helped negate the fact that he doesn't provide a whole lot on defense other than effort (yay participation awards!) and getting hit by bigger players who have somewhere to be. Therein lies the real question mark for not only next season but his entire career. Can he overcome his lack of size to make a real impact in the NHL? Only time will tell but if this past season was any indication, the future does indeed look bright for the intriguing Mark Olver.

Fun Fact: Olver is one of three Avalanche picks from the 2008 draft to make their debut last year (Cameron Gaunce and Jonas Holos were the others)

The Mark Olver Drinking Game: Drink when Olver records a hit Drunk potential: Higher than you think. He recorded 27 hits in 18 games, tied for 7^th highest hit/game rate on the team.

What We Said at Midseason: Made almost no impression on me at all.

2010 Cap Hit: $850,000

2011 Status: Signed through end of next season

Outlook for Next Season: Back in the spring of 2009, the Avalanche were a very bad team. And they were decimated by injuries, to the point that they called up winger T.J. Galiardi. Galiardi was a high pick (2^nd) but didn't seem to be NHL-ready yet (27 points that year in Lake Erie), but he played well in the last 11 games of the season and has been with the Avalanche ever since (except, Dan Winkler reminds us, for brief non-conditioning reassignment in January). That parallels a little with Olver, who was one of the few bright spots with the Avalanche this spring. Olver may not have the 2^nd-round pedigree that Galiardi has, but at a minimum he's earned a long look by the Avalanche staff in training camp. If he doesn't make the team (and remember, he DID make the team out of camp last year), he's likely to be one of the final cuts.

Next Up: Craig Anderson