Expectations for Jacob Olofsson were tempered from the time his name was called at the 2018 NHL Draft. The Swedish centre had spent a year with Timrå in HockeyAllsvenskan; a team that had earned a promotion to the SHL in the last game of the 2017-18 season.
There were knocks on his game, mostly that he was uneven in his performances and drifted in and out of games at times. Scouts thought he could look disinterested in some moments, and there were questions about his drive and character. After a year in the SHL, that has all changed for the better.