It’s always fun to have a story like Mathieu Olivier. First Mississippi born NHL player, undrafted guy who worked his way onto an NHL team and earned the big multi-year contract. It’s clear from every interaction with the media that the well-spoken Olivier has become a central figure in the locker room and is highly valued by this organiziation. Following the summer tragedy he stepped into a leadership role and produced on the ice. Oh, and he’s also the most terrifying fighter in the game today.
2024-25 Stats
Games Played: 82
Goals: 18
Assists: 14
Points: 32
Plus/Minus: -4
PIM: 139
5v5 Corsi %: 44.9
5v5 Fenwick %: 45.3
5v5 O-Zone Start %: 41.8
Contract
Mathieu Olivier was signed to a 6 year, $18 million dollar contract that will start next season. The scoring brawler has been cemented as a part of the core through 2031.
High Point
Plenty of options for this one, I’m going back to game 6 of the year against Toronto, a 6-2 win for the CBJ. This game marked the first multi-goal game of Olivier’s NHL career and put us on alert that this guy was here to score goals this year.
Low Point
Following the injury of Monahan the whole team slumped including Olivier. His longest pointless streak was 9 games spanning from late January until after the 4 nations break.
Report Card
A
What a season is was. More than tripling his highest goal scoring total and doubling his career high in points, Goalivier became a legitimate third line scoring winger on this team. Is his 16% shooting percentage a bit high? Not a concern on this day. During the peak of the injury plague we were treated to top line winger Olivier, and he kind of held his own. His shot has seemingly gained some weight to it this year and no one wants to be on the other end of his forecheck.
Even though I led with his off and on-ice leadership and the solid goal scoring, everything ultimately comes back down to fighting with Olivier and there is no doubt that he has established himself as the premier fighter in the league. Olivier was second in the league in total PIM with 139 but led the league in major penalties by 5, with 15. I have the heavyweight match with Ryan Reaves embedded below, but spending your lunch break on his hockeyFights page (click here) will bring you some joy.
I have no idea if the scoring will continue, but Olivier has turned into a solid NHL contributor in addition to the fighting. He is a truly unique player in the league today and it’s more fun to watch him on our team than on anyone else’s. I look forward to the havoc he will create in the postseason.