The Yarmouth native joins the Black and Gold after a rough start on the Isle. Can he return to form with the Bruins?
Today, prior to the Bruins’ playing against the Vancouver Canucks, decided to take a flyer on a player the Islanders have committed to Waivers in Maine-born Oliver Wahlstrom.
The 6’2, 205-pound Wahlstrom began his hockey journey in Boston when he was a viral shootout participant at TD Garden back in 2009.
Since then, Wahlstrom was chosen 11th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, and has largely been a part of the Islanders organization; specifically during their last gasps of playoff relevance (or, as relevant as you can get when you get dunked on in the Eastern Conference final in consecutive years), and into their current era. His star coming into the NHL was bright, but it was quickly quashed with the one-two punch of being a largely offense-first forward in an organization that treated offense as a curious side effect of defense if not with active contempt. Things improved slightly under Lane Lambert’s watch, but an ACL injury in 2022 once again put him off track. The Islanders’ finally decided to put him on waivers after another slow start to his time in Long Island, and here we are now.
Gonna be real, as a player, Wahlstrom may tickle the desire for a local boy, but we’re gonna have to hope that the “Bruins Bump” that the team has apparently passed over this year actually lands flush, or they’re gonna be in real trouble.
Evolving-Hockey.com
Still, with any new place to go, the Bruins hope that Wahlstrom will kick back into another gear and provide a spark for an offense that has largely looked spark-less over the past few days. Maybe being in a place that actually wants his skillset will help him translate it finally. Who knows?
Let’s all welcome Wahlstrom to the Black and Gold!