Senators' Eskild Bakke Olsen aiming to seize NHL opportunity 'not many Norwegians get'

At 24, Eskild Bakke Olsen, middle, will be the oldest player in the Senators' lineup during the weekend rookie tournament in Gatineau. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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Eskild Bakke Olsen stood up on the Norway bench in anticipation of something legendary as he watched teammates Noah Steen and Sander Hurrod dash towards the Canadian goal on a 2-on-1 rush in overtime.

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With their nation’s first medal in any top-division tournament on the line, Bakke Olsen and his countrymen had somehow given up a 2-0 lead in the final 76 seconds of the bronze medal game of the 2026 World Hockey Championship in Switzerland.

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So, when Steen looked off Hurrod and wired a wrister under the glove of Canadian goalie Jet Greaves, for Bakke Olsen, it all “went black.”

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“It was one of my greatest hockey memories,” the centre recalled on Friday at Ottawa Senators rookie camp. “And also, for Norway, we’ve never been at that level and competing there, so it’s something you will never forget, and seeing the whole country coming together as they never had before.

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“The year before, we were one goal from getting relegated, and this year we got bronze, so Norwegian hockey is going upwards, and that’s cool to see.”

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The IIHF website called it “one of the biggest upsets in international hockey history.”

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For Bakke Olsen, the once unfathomable accomplishment would also serve as a stepping stone to potentially realizing another childhood dream.

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Thrice passed over at the NHL draft in his teens, Bakke Olsen slowly but surely worked his way up through Norway’s junior and professional leagues until his first big break came three years ago when BIK Karlskoga of Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan offered him a contract.

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In his neighbouring country’s second-best hockey league, he had 37 points in 49 games and began to draw the attention of a few NHL teams. That turned into serious interest from several clubs after a subsequent point-per-game season and a jump to the Swedish Hockey League with Linköping HC for 2025-26.

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Following Bakke Olsen’s five points at the WHC this past spring, the Ottawa Senators decided they had seen enough. The sturdy 6-2, 203-pound forward was hungry in puck battles, had clearly developed a strong two-way game and was getting faster.

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“Everyone has always told me that I’m too slow, but that is always something that I have managed to adapt to every league I’ve gone to,” Bakke Olsen said. “I think I’m always like trying to evolve the speed and, like, the conditioning to (play) that five extra seconds every shift instead of changing earlier.”

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Less than 24 hours after the Stanley Cup was awarded to the Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa signed Bakke Olsen to a one-year, entry-level contract worth $910,000 on June 15.

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“They like my hockey sense and that I’m good in both ends,” he said of the Senators brass. “With a good season last year, they saw, like, good hockey IQ, and also I hope that they saw that I love playing hockey.”

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At age 24, Bakke Olsen will be the oldest player in a Sens uniform when he suits up for games against the Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday, 6 p.m.) and Montreal Canadiens (Sunday, 6 p.m.) during the Prospect Challenge at Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau.

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“I’m really excited to see him here this weekend and wherever he ends up,” said Andrew Campbell, coach of Ottawa’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville. “He’s an older player, like you said, just reliable. He can take face-offs and he can play on both sides of the puck. So, if he does end up in Belleville, it’ll be a huge boost for us and he’ll be a really good player for us. And hopefully he makes a good impression here in Ottawa these next couple weeks and gets to spend some time in the NHL as well.”