Rangers Sign Hugo Ollas to Entry Level Contract
This afternoon Chris Drury announced the New York Rangers had agreed to terms with Hugo Ollas, signing him to a two year entry level contract.
Hugo Ollas who hails from Sweden is a goaltender the Rangers selected with their 7th round pick in the 2020 draft, sound familiar? However unlike Rangers royalty he is a giant of a man standing at 6’8″. He’s spent the last few years playing hockey in North America starring in net for Merrimack College, sporting a 27-27 record with a 2.48 GAA, and .914 SV%. If you’ve been watching any of Gabe Perreault’s season with the Boston Eagles they went head to head several times, the last time Perreault scored a goal and assisted on another getting the best of Ollas, and while Merrimack may have been easily dispatched by the high powered BC squad, it was clear Ollas was one of the only reasons Merrimack was able to stay in the game. Before playing for Merrimack College, Ollas played in multiple levels of Sweden’s professional leagues to varying degrees of success.
A scouting report on Ollas’ style and ability from his draft year is below.
Ollas style in net is like a typical modern well-schooled goaltender; he goes down on his knees extremely early and uses his substantial 6’8 frame to stop pucks and to cut off shooting lanes. He never made any unnecessary movements and has a close to robotic way to handle himself.
Elite Prospects 2020 NHL Draft Scouting Report
With his third season at Merrimack coming to a close and the signing of this contract, it’s a safe bet to assume he will be making the jump to professional hockey and could end up playing with the Wolf Pack or their ECHL affiliate the Jacksonville Icemen the remainder of this year. Regardless of where he ends up, it’ll sure be interesting to see what Benoit Allaire can do with a goalie of his size.