New York Islanders winger Oliver Wahlstrom has accepted his $874,125 qualifying offer for the 2023-24 season, the team announced on Monday.
The deal puts the team approximately $500,000 over the NHLs’ $83.5 million salary cap, per CapFriendly, but it can stay above that mark by 10% until the season begins. If the Islanders don’t make a move for the remainder of the offseason — and Wahlstrom’s name had been reportedly floating around trade talks earlier this month — that would force the organization to demote the likes of Karson Kuhlman, Julien Gauthier, or Ross Johnston to its AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.
This becomes a vital season for the 23-year-old Wahlstrom, who missed the final four months of the regular season and the entire playoffs with an ACL injury suffered during a Dec. 27 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 35 games, he recorded just seven goals with nine assists despite possessing the kind of shot that could see him develop into a legitimate top-six winger at the NHL level.
If the organization still believes that Wahlstrom could meet those expectations, there is a realistic chance that he could see initial minutes at the start of the 2023-24 season on the Islanders’ first line alongside Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, though it would mean a shift from the right wing to the left.
But this still is very much a developing young talent who is looking to tweak his game from that of a finesse standpoint to more of a power forward.
“I’m a big guy and I think I’m going to put a little bit more muscle on this summer,” Wahlstrom, who is listed at 6-foot-2, 204 lbs. said during his exit interview in May. “I think that’s where my game needs to trend. Obviously, I have the skill and that skill is still there, but I have a lot of fun when I create a little havoc. I think I stay in games more when I’m like that.
“I think the next step in my game is to be a hard-nosed power forward that puts the puck in the net and keep playing that style.”
