As the NHL Trade Deadline approaches, teams around the league are gearing up to make decisions on their direction for the remainder of the season. This means teams are starting to make some roster changes, and some players are being placed on the NHL waiver wire.
Boston Bruins forward Oliver Wahlstrom is the latest player to be placed on waivers.
And we’re here to determine whether or not the Vancouver Canucks should claim Wahlstrom.
Wahlstrom was selected 11th overall in the first round of the 2018 NHL draft by the New York Islanders. He spent the first six seasons with the Islanders, highlighted by his first two full years in the league.
In the 2020-2021 shortened season, Wahlstrom played 44 of the 56 games, scoring 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points in 12:23 minutes of average ice time. The right-winger followed that up with a career year, scoring 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points in 73 games.
However, the 6’2″, 205-lb forward hasn’t found the same success since then.
Wahlstrom failed to play more than 35 games the following two and a half seasons with the Islanders, accumulating just 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points through 94 games. Then, on December 14 of this season, he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Bruins.
In Boston, Wahlstrom has been in and out of the lineup, suiting up in 16 of the 27 games for the Bruins since being acquired, tallying just one goal and one assist for two points in 10:30 of average ice time.
Let’s dive into Wahlstrom, the player, and find out if he would make sense for the Canucks to add.

Oliver Wahlstrom

Let’s start by taking a look into Wahlstrom’s NHL Edge data to find his skating and shooting attributes and compare them to the rest of the league.
Looking at this, Wahlstrom doesn’t have the breakaway, high-end speed this management and coaching regime likes. He ranks below the 50th percentile in top skating speed at 21.89 MPH, but not by much, trailing the league average by 0.24 MPH. Despite playing in only 43 games this season, him only having 18 total speed bursts over 20 MPH is still far from the league average of 58.1.
The most significant outlier here is his shot, specifically his shot speed. Wahlstrom’s fastest shot this season clocked in at 95.12 MPH. This ranks in the 97th percentile across the league and 11.62 MPH higher than league average. His minimal shot volume can be a result of his low ice time.
More into his shot, Wahlstrom has taken 105 shot attempts on the year, finding the net on only 54 of those attempts. That works out to be 51.4% of the time Wahlstrom lands his shots on net, having 48.6% missing the net or getting blocked.
Here is a shot chart showing where Wahlstrom takes most of his shots on goal.
While most players get there shots in front of the net in the high-danger areas, these charts show that Wahlstrom is not afraid to take those shots from distance, either — something that Canucks fans don’t see much of today.
Now to put our focus on the Canucks and if he would be a fit here.
Here is how Wahlstrom ranks analytically compared to the current Canucks wingers:
Sure, you probably look at his poor analytics, ranking in the bottom of all of the current Canucks wingers. However, if you look further into his splits between the Islanders and Bruins, they tell two different stories.
Once he joined the Bruins, all of Wahlstrom’s analytics turned positive, on the proper side of 50%. This indicates that his team is producing more offensively with him on the ice than they’re allowing defensively.
The only worry would be if Wahlstrom is the Rick Tocchet-type player. At a glance, he doesn’t profile as such. He’s a skilled bottom-six forward. We’ve seen the likes of Nils Höglander, a very skilled forward who lacked defensively, struggle to excel in Tocchet’s system.
But we included the handedness for a reason. Looking at the Canucks current wingers, outside of Brock Boeser, who has a right-handed dependable shot? Conor Garland had two nice goals against the Los Angeles Kings but isn’t known as a sniper. Upper management spoke highly of Kiefer Sherwood’s shot, but he isn’t a top-six forward.
That’s not to say Wahlstrom is a top-six forward either, but think about if the Canucks decide to move off of Brock Boeser. There isn’t a right-shot threat to score along the wing — his shot speed ranks among the elite.
In his draft year, Wahlstrom was recognized as having one of the best, if not the best, shot in his draft class. Here is an Elite Prospect’s description of Wahlstrom in his draft year.
“A sensational scoring threat, Oliver Wahlstrom is a fierce competitor that preys on weak play. He exploits gaps in the neutral zone; his positioning allows him to carry the puck forward immediately or shift up and into stride off of an outlet pass. He promptly takes easy lanes away from the opposition along his own blue line, but could stand to be more proactive defensively. Offensively, he might be described as uncontainable: the confidence he has in his individual puck skill, paired with a high level of thinking, makes him a difficult cog to take out of alignment. He is able to create opportunities for himself, as well as teammates, out of nothing; this, in turn, translates to energy on the ice and in the building as a whole. All-in-all, Oliver Wahlstrom is an instinct-driven hockey player gifted with the size, skating, skill, and smarts that coaches yearn for.”
Now, it’s clear that this type of Wahlstrom has not translated to the NHL level. Do the Canucks believe the player can reach this level of play? Is he worth taking a flyer on?
Our prediction is that they will probably pass. However, it is dependent on their plan with Boeser. Wahlstrom comes at a low-risk cost. He’s on a one-year, $1 million deal and could provide an offensive spark with a wicked shot in the bottom six and potentially the power play, who isn’t afraid to shoot from distance.
We’ll find out tomorrow at 11 AM PST.
What do you think, Canucks fans? Do you want to see the Canucks claim Oliver Wahlstrom off the NHL waiver wire? Let us know in the comments below!
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