Oliver Wahlstrom is being treated differently early on in the Patrick Roy era.
Oliver Wahlstrom is being treated differently early on in the Patrick Roy era.
The New York Islanders handling of Oliver Wahlstrom should be studied.
Under Barry Trotz, the young forward seemed to pay for every mistake he made on the ice, getting benched often. It was clear that Wahlstrom, a player with an offensive focus, struggled to understand and execute the defensive system Trotz implemented.
In Lane Lambert's first season as the bench boss, 2022-23, Wahlstrom slowly started to show an understanding of what it takes to play a 200-foot game before a season-ending ACL injury in December put a hefty damper on what would have been a career campaign.
After working hard to get back and be ready for the 2023-24 season, Wahlstrom struggled to get playing time under Lambert, falling out of favor quickly as the season progressed.
When in the lineup, his minutes were severely limited, and it seemed Wahlstrom's time on the island was dwindling by the day.
But then Patrick Roy arrived, and things have changed a bit for Wahlstrom.
He went from an afterthought in the lineup to a priority, with Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello placing depth forward Julien Gauthier on waivers to clear cap space and allow Wahlstrom to get more of an opportunity to play.
Roy wants to see what Wahlstrom can do.
"I have time for him. I'm curious to see what his ceiling is, where he is."
That quote spoke volumes Sunday morning.
Ultimately, Wahlstrom's playing time would be up to him and how he played in the game, but Lamoriello and Roy just wanted him not to worry about minutes or offensive production.
"He has to just not worry about scoring or anything. Just go and play," Lamoriello said. "I think he's put a lot of pressure on himself, so he just has to go play, just go have fun. And when I say that, you have to enjoy what you do. We don't worry about the scoring. We just worry about the goal differential."
When the puck dropped up in Toronto Monday night, Wahlstrom was in the lineup and probably played his best game by far this season and potentially the best game of his career.
He was making the smart plays. He was filling lanes. He was shooting when lanes presented themselves, and at one point in the game, he won a 1-on-1 battle along the Islanders end-boards before transitioning the puck up the ice -- something he hasn't done in at least a good while.
Forget the advanced analytics, which told the opposite story. The eye test is the only test that truly matters, and he played better than usual, despite the numbers.
That doesn't mean he played like an All-Star, but like Roy's spoken often about regarding progression, that's what the team needed to see, especially after a solid showing last week against the Florida Panthers.
While things were going well for most of the game, Wahlstrom made a mistake, taking an interference penalty at 14:20 of the third period with New York up 2-1.
The Islanders would pay the price, as former Islanders captain John Tavares tied the game at 2-2 with under five minutes to play in the third.
Under Trotz and Lambert, Wahlstrom getting another shift after that was a whopping zero percent.
It would have been entirely fair for No. 26 to ride the bench for the rest of the game and potentially come out of the lineup the next game.
But Roy decided it was best to get Wahlstrom back out there and call his number one more time before the Islanders took the lead late and held on for a 3-2 win.
In 9:52 minutes of action, Wahlstrom recorded one shot on four attempts, three hits, and a penalty.
Again, that penalty impacts the way his night was viewed, and sure, because the Wahlstrom bar is relatively low right now when the young forward plays like an NHL player, it's noticeable.
And maybe, in year five, Wahlstrom should no longer be trying to figure things out, but that's the reality. The ACL injury drastically hurt Wahlstrom's development, which seemed a tad delayed to begin with.
One solid game doesn't mean Wahlstrom will become a bonafide top-six winger for this team or any team in this league. It doesn't mean Roy will always throw him back into the deep end to see if he will sink or swim.
But right now, the way Roy has handled Wahlstrom has been different, and time will tell if his approach to the Maine native is the one that finally gets No. 26 playing to his potential.
Wahlstrom has two goals and four assists in 24 games this season, averaging 11:01 minutes per game.
You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York with co-host Sean Cuthbert live Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter & Facebook.