Yesterday, Islanders winger Oliver Wahlstrom landed a new contract for this season, signing a one-year, $1MM pact to avoid an arbitration hearing next month. But that doesn’t do much to change the likelihood that he’ll be on their roster come opening night, according to Ethan Sears of the New York Post.
It appears not much has changed since general manager Lou Lamoriello said at the draft that the Isles were planning on qualifying Wahlstrom heading into free agency but would examine trade options as well. Wahlstrom himself was also noncommittal when asked if he would return to New York in 2024-25 during last season’s exit interviews in May.
The willingness from both sides to move on is reasonable. The 2018 11th overall pick has never managed more than 13 goals or 24 points in a single season, and an ACL tear in 2022-23 has limited him to just 67 total appearances over the last two campaigns. Even when in the lineup last season, Wahlstrom was a non-factor with two goals and six points in 32 games.
But when Wahlstrom filed for salary arbitration at the beginning of July, it meant discussions of him moving on would take a backseat until he settled or had a contract awarded via a hearing. That’s now in the rearview mirror, though, meaning trade rumors could heat up again between now and October.
If no trade materializes, the Islanders do have the option to send Wahlstrom to the minors for complete cap relief since his cap hit falls below the maximum buriable threshold of $1.15MM. However, he’s no longer waiver-exempt, and doing so would risk losing him for free on the wire at the end of preseason when teams are keen on poaching talent to address roster deficiencies that arose during camp.
Having Wahlstrom off the roster by opening night isn’t just motivated by his recent play and injury struggles. The Isles are completely capped out after signing him and won’t be able to carry a full 23-player roster. As it stands, they don’t have room to utilize international free agent signing Maxim Tsyplakov in the NHL as hoped without also placing someone like Hudson Fasching, Simon Holmström or Kyle MacLean on waivers. Trading or waiving Wahlstrom would give them the cap space required to do so, although it still wouldn’t be enough to open up cap space for a 23rd player on the roster.
Wahlstrom, 24, has 34 goals and 67 points in 193 NHL games since making his debut five seasons ago. If he ends up elsewhere in the next few months, the acquiring team would still have control over his signing rights next summer as an arbitration-eligible RFA.
I could see Wahlstrom being a fit with the Oilers. Their system seems like it might work for him.
Yup, he would function best in a system that didn’t require him getting within 5′ of the boards other than for a shift change.
Josh Yohe has mentioned a few times this summer that the Pens might trade for Wahlstrom.
It’s a very random name to pull out of nowhere, so it sounds like that info comes from Pens brass.
Don’t see how he’s any better than Puustinen or Puljujarvi, though.