CHICAGO — At times it seemed as if Oliver Wahlstrom had lived nine lives with the Islanders.
But on Saturday, Wahlstrom was claimed off waivers by the Bruins, ending his career with the club that drafted him in the first round six years ago.
The New England native will get a new start closer to home and in the same city where he briefly attended Boston University.
The Islanders waived Wahlstrom and Pierre Engvall on Friday to make room for Matt Barzal, who will likely be on LTIR for Sunday's game against the Blackhawks.
Engvall will likely be cleared and sent to AHL Bridgeport.
His future with the club after the season is up in the air, and it is increasingly likely that he will buy out the remaining five years of his contract.
Last summer, it seemed like Wahlstrom's time with the Islanders was over, but neither the player nor general manager Lou Lamoriello seemed fully committed to his future here.
However, the Islanders couldn't find a satisfactory trade and didn't want to lose the former first-round pick for nothing, so they brought Wahlstrom back on a one-year deal worth $1 million and sent him out of camp.
However, that didn't translate into consistent regular season performances, with Wahlstrom scoring just four points in 27 games.
He has recently drawn praise from Patrick Roy, but given the number of players in the squad returning quickly from injury, movement is inevitable and he needs more consistency to secure his place. I needed to.
Wahlstrom has never looked the same since tearing his ACL at the end of 2022.
But even before that, he was behaving badly with coach Barry Trotz and getting a healthy snub from coach Lane Lambert — Lambert regularly snubbed him last season as well. It was an omen.
Asked about Wahlstrom, Roy said, “Every time Lou makes a decision, we always talk about the options that we have.” “And sometimes it's a difficult decision. We have a lot of good players, but sometimes it's a tough decision. It's not always an easy decision to put players on waivers, but we want to help us win. I always try to go with players who are willing to help me.”
