Back in December, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney was looking to add scoring from somewhere, anywhere, whether it was from the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Providence Bruins or through a trade or the waiver wire. Just over a week before Christmas, Sweeney put in a claim on a New York Islanders, Oliver Wahlstrom, and ended up getting him. What a disaster it turned into.
The NHL trade deadline is here, and beginning at noon on Tuesday, things are about to get crazy. For the Bruins and Sweeney, there are a number of needs they have at forward and on defense. Over the last 24 hours, Boston's GM has re-signed a number of restricted free agents (RFAs) of his, but he is also letting some walk, including Wahlstrom.
Bruins not giving Oliver Wahlstrom a qualifying offer
On Monday afternoon, the Bruins announced that they were not issuing qualifying offers to seven players: Drew Bavaro, Trevor Kuntar, Jakub Lauko, Daniil Misyul, Ian Mitchell, Jaxon Nelson, and Wahlstrom. None of those names are surprising, especially Wahlstrom.
Wahlstrom played in just 16 games for the Black and Gold and produced a goal and an assist while averaging just 10:30 a night. He was sent to Providence, and in 19 games he had nine goals and six assists.
Picked 11th overall in the first round of the 2018 Entry Draft by the Islanders, Wahlstrom never found his footing on Long Island, and it was a low-risk, high-reward move by Sweeney putting in a claim for him and givning him a fresh start, similar to what they did when they landed Pavel Zacha from the New Jersey Devils. It just never worked for Wahlstrom.
Now he'll hit free agency and will likely land somewhere else, as someone will give him a shot, but it was the right decision by Sweeney to move on from Wahlstrom.