The Bruins need scoring and they don’t have much cap space. So when a cost-effective opportunity presented itself on Saturday, they took it.
The Bruins, ranked 29th in offense (2.48 goals per game), claimed one-time 11th-overall pick Oliver Wahlstrom off waivers from the New York Islanders. The 24-year-old right wing’s cap hit for this year is $1 million. That leaves the Bruins with $121,000 in current cap space, according to puckpedia.com. Wahlstrom is scheduled to be a restricted free agent this summer.
Whether Wahlstrom is the answer to the Bruins’ prayers is another question. A one-and-done at Boston College after being chosen by the Islanders in the 2018 draft, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Wahlstrom has not been able to produce at the NHL level as the Islanders had hoped. His most productive season was in 2021-22, when he had 13 goals and 11 assists. He has 36 goals and 35 assists in 220 NHL games. He played 35 games in 2022-23 before he tore his ACL, an injury that ended his season. He was limited to 32 games last season. He has two goals and two assists in 27 games this year.
The Maine native’s early claim to fame came when he was a young participant in the NESN’s Mini One-on-One competition and he scored a spin-o-rama lacrosse-style goal in the breakaway competition.
The Bruins knew they’d be in search of right wing help at some point during this season when they allowed Jake DeBrusk to walk. DeBrusk, who signed a seven-year deal worth an annual cap hit of $5.5 million with the Bruins’ Saturday opponent Vancouver Canucks, is on a heater after a slow start. He had 11 goals in his previous 10 games going into Saturday, including the game-winner against the Bruins last month.
TRADE: The Ducks traded Cam Fowler to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, abruptly ending the veteran defenseman’s 15-season tenure in Anaheim.
The Blues sent a second-round pick in 2027 and minor-league defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka to Anaheim for a fourth-round pick in 2027 and Fowler, the top-scoring defenseman in Ducks franchise history.
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