Mathieu Olivier was certainly a source of frustration for Blue Jackets fans this season. Don’t believe me?
I have receipts.
Seriously, I have receipts.
Come check out these receipts.
For some reason, a player who put up 3-4-7 in 48 games became an absolutely trusted, no doubt about it lineup guy for now-fired former head coach Brad Larsen, someone who routinely played more minutes than Kent Johnson, was trusted with playing significant minutes seeing games out late, and generally was as relied-upon as any forward in the lineup.
All of this fell contrary to his actual play and performance – Olivier posted a 5-10-15 with a -20, was massacred in possession metrics with a 41.1 CF% and a 41.7 FF%, and who put up the third-worst CF% relative among all forwards who played more games than Jake Voracek did (11).
Is Olivier a winning player? It’s doubtful. But it’s questionable if he even has a role on one of the worst teams in the salary cap era. Olivier simply couldn’t hack it playing 19.3% of each game last season. His role would be better served by other players in the organization next year. The front office is clearly pushing for playoff contention in 2023-24 – Mathieu Olivier does not help the club toward that end.
2022-23 Stats:
Games: 66
Goals: 5
Assists: 10
Points: 15
Plus/Minus: -20
PIM: 81
5v5 Corsi%: 41.1%
5v5 Fenwick%: 41.7%
Zone Start %: 27.6% Offense – 72.4% Defense
Contract:
Olivier is an RFA this offseason with arbitration rights. His qualifying offer is $787,500.
High Point:
Mathieu Olivier had exactly one game with multiple points – a 1-2-3 night with a +3 in 18:41 as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Dallas Stars in Dallas.
Low Point:
On October 30, 2022, Olivier played a team-low 9:10, was a -2 with absolutely zero counting stats (shots, hits, blocks, giveaways, takeaways, anything) in 16 shifts as Columbus lost 7-1 to the New Jersey Devils in the Prudential Center. Olivier basically got some cardio in while contributing nothing of value to the club.
Report Card:
I mean, can it be anything but an F? He was a liability everywhere on the ice, was routinely trusted in moments that were clearly too big for him, and on a contending team wouldn’t even be on the NHL roster. He was part of the fourth line, Brad Larsen’s crutch, which isn’t his fault but he and his play suffered the consequences routinely of extreme deployment and usage.
He failed in those moments, as did his linemates. His coaches failed him, however, and now they are gone.