The Boston Bruins turned to the waiver wire in an attempt to help out their struggling offense.
The Bruins announced Saturday they claimed Oliver Wahlstrom off waivers from the New York Islanders. Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco told reporters following morning skate that he doesn’t know when the 24-year-old forward will join his new team.
But when Wahlstrom does suit up for Boston, Sacco expects him to bring an offensive punch. That’s an element sorely missing at the moment for the Bruins, who enter Saturday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks ranked fourth-to-last in the NHL in goals per game.
“Just from knowing the player a bit, watching him the last few years — we’ve had a lot of games against the Islanders — and there’s games where he’s been in and out for them,” Sacco told reporters, per team-provided video. “But the one thing that sticks to my mind is good shot. A guy that can probably score some goals and pretty good in the elbow or the bumper on the power play because of that right-handed shot that he has.”
Wahlstrom, who is a Portland, Maine native, didn’t exactly light it up offensively for the Islanders this season. The winger notched two goals and two assists in 27 games, which is similar to the two-goal, four-assist output he had in 32 games for the Islanders during the 2023-24 campaign.
But the Bruins certainly will hope to get Wahlstrom to return to his 2021-22 form. That season, Wahlstrom registered a career-high 24 points off 13 goals and 11 assists.
Sacco said he’s unsure exactly where Wahlstrom will slot into Boston’s lineup, but the Bruins bench boss wants to give his new forward every chance available to provide a much-needed offensive jolt.
“It’s a good question. We’ll discuss that further,” Sacco said of what line Wahlstrom could play on. “If he’s going to be a guy that can help us offensively, he’s going to have to be put in a role where he has an opportunity. So, maybe that’s somewhere up in the lineup. We’ll see. Could be the third line with (Charlie) Coyle and (Trent Frederic). I just don’t know yet. And then maybe on that other power-play unit he might get an opportunity. I don’t want to get ahead of myself here. But certainly I think when you pick up a player like that, you want to give him the best opportunity to succeed if and when he joins us.”
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