RW Oliver Wahlstrom - Boston College, NCAA (2018, 11th, NYI)

[SnowblindNYR]

What the heck, how did he score 30 and over 8 times ? Thats ridiculous, guy always had a great shot and he was a volume shooter.

As a Ranger at least most came from around the net. Outside of a patented long distance wrist shot on the breakaway that seemed to go in every time he rarely scored on shots. It wasn't bad, just better at scoring in other ways.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

in his entire time as a ranger i can remember like 2 or 3 times when Nash sniped a goal. the vast majority of his goals were in close, deflections/rebounds, dekes on breakaways etc. he never lifted the puck.

 

[PWJunior]

in his entire time as a ranger i can remember like 2 or 3 times when Nash sniped a goal. the vast majority of his goals were in close, deflections/rebounds, dekes on breakaways etc. he never lifted the puck.

Just like Tavares.

Not seeing the Nash comparison. Wahlstrom has the skating and stick skills to create his own shot, his shot is pretty wicked. His whole game is about getting that laser off.

I think he fits in that Brett Hull archetype. Gove him a playmaker to unlock his full potential.

 

[SI90]

Just like Tavares.

Not seeing the Nash comparison. Wahlstrom has the skating and stick skills to create his own shot, his shot is pretty wicked. His whole game is about getting that laser off.

I think he fits in that Brett Hull archetype. Gove him a playmaker to unlock his full potential.

Barzal

 

[VainGretzky]

Islanders drafted the best point producer forward from the draft , he will have the most productive career stats wise.

 

[lawrence]

Rick Nash had a deadly wrist shot add to the fact that he was 6'4 which gives his wrist shot more angle then most snipers.

 

[SI90]

I hate the Rick Nash comparison. Even the CBJ Rick Nash. I’ll sign up for the production though lol

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

On the Isles board, it was mentioned that Wahlstrom is AHL eligible this season according to Pronman. If he doesn't play the 9 games in the NHL, his ELC would slide.

Can anyone else confirm this? I thought only kids drafted out of Euro leagues could have their ELC slide while playing in the AHL.

This was probably answered already, but to give some more details:

In 1979, the draft-eligible age was lowered from 20 to 18. The NHL then negotiated with the CHL and implemented a rule that players drafted out of the Canadian major junior leagues, would only be eligible for the ECHL and AHL if they are either 20 years old or have played 5 years in the CHL, to avoid an exodus of prospects.

There are exceptions. One of them is Rasmus Sandin (drafted by TOR). Since he was in the OHL on loan from his Swedish team, he is allowed to play in the AHL.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Some of you might ridicule me for this comparison but he reminds me of Alexander Semin.

Semin was already quite maxed out when he was drafted and he had a wicked shot. I remember being appalled at just the sheer velocity of his shots and how quick it would come off his stick. Kinda like Wahlstrom, he's got a big frame but doesn't necessarily use it and but clearly don't shy away either. Strong skaters too. But both however have had questions on defense and Semin was atrocious defensively. Just didn't seem interested. Both also aren't great puck retrievers, they need a playmaker to get the puck to their stick.

Semin was fantastic goal scorer but just didnt have the heart. Wahlstrom is quite different in that regard. Him and Barzal are going to be a very dangerous duo if it all works out.

 

[PWJunior]

Some of you might ridicule me for this comparison but he reminds me of Alexander Semin.

Semin was already quite maxed out when he was drafted and he had a wicked shot. I remember being appalled at just the sheer velocity of his shots and how quick it would come off his stick. Kinda like Wahlstrom, he's got a big frame but doesn't necessarily use it and but clearly don't shy away either. Strong skaters too. But both however have had questions on defense and Semin was atrocious defensively. Just didn't seem interested. Both also aren't great puck retrievers, they need a playmaker to get the puck to their stick.

Semin was fantastic goal scorer but just didnt have the heart. Wahlstrom is quite different in that regard. Him and Barzal are going to be a very dangerous duo if it all works out.

Actually, I kind of like your Semin comp. Obviously not the lazy and a trainwreck defensively part. He was highly skilled, skated well, and his game was all about getting his shot off. His shot was definitely wicked.

 

[Mrb1p]

Islanders drafted the best point producer forward from the draft , he will have the most productive career stats wise.

What

 

[Mrb1p]

Some of you might ridicule me for this comparison but he reminds me of Alexander Semin.

Semin was already quite maxed out when he was drafted and he had a wicked shot. I remember being appalled at just the sheer velocity of his shots and how quick it would come off his stick. Kinda like Wahlstrom, he's got a big frame but doesn't necessarily use it and but clearly don't shy away either. Strong skaters too. But both however have had questions on defense and Semin was atrocious defensively. Just didn't seem interested. Both also aren't great puck retrievers, they need a playmaker to get the puck to their stick.

Semin was fantastic goal scorer but just didnt have the heart. Wahlstrom is quite different in that regard. Him and Barzal are going to be a very dangerous duo if it all works out.

Semin was never atrocious defensively. Especially later in his career. Semin was also a much better dangler and playmaker than Wahlstrom will ever be, even if hes able to do it.

 

[93LEAFS]

He's closer to Tarasenko than Nash. Whether he can reach that potential is another story entirely, if people thought there was a high probability of it, he would have gone top 4. That doesn't mean there isn't a possibility of it or that it is incredibly unlikely. I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of Islanders signing him and putting him in the AHL if they trust Bridgeport to develop him, they have had issues recently. If not BC is the next best option.

Great goal scorer, great hands, decent to good passer and skater. Needs to work on his compete more, but that seemed to improve throughout the year.

 

[Mrb1p]

He's closer to Tarasenko than Nash. Whether he can reach that potential is another story entirely, if people thought there was a high probability of it, he would have gone top 4. That doesn't mean there isn't a possibility of it or that it is incredibly unlikely. I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of Islanders signing him and putting him in the AHL if they trust Bridgeport to develop him, they have had issues recently. If not BC is the next best option.

Great goal scorer, great hands, decent to good passer and skater. Needs to work on his compete more, but that seemed to improve throughout the year.

Again, I don't believe the Tarasenko comparison at all. Svechnikov is closer to Tarasenko in play style. Wahlstrom is shy despite his size, Tarasenko uses his size in the same way Radulov, Subban, Kovalev, Jagr and Crosby used theirs (Or strength in Rads/Subban/Crosby's case.), Wahlstrom doesnt. He's a prototypical sniper than can also dish some and skate good.

 

[93LEAFS]

Again, I don't believe the Tarasenko comparison at all. Svechnikov is closer to Tarasenko in play style. Wahlstrom is shy despite his size, Tarasenko uses his size in the same way Radulov, Subban, Kovalev, Jagr and Crosby used theirs (Or strength in Rads/Subban/Crosby's case.), Wahlstrom doesnt. He's a prototypical sniper than can also dish some and skate good.

Svechnikov scores a lot more like Matthews, Benn or Tavares actually. He's great at getting in close and hammering home rebounds or creating good plays within the front of the net. They can snipe it if they have too, but it isn't their preferred method.

 

[Mrb1p]

Svechnikov scores a lot more like Matthews, Benn or Tavares actually. He's great at getting in close and hammering home rebounds or creating good plays within the front of the net. They can snipe it if they have too, but it isn't their preferred method.

Well, not sure I agree but yes, Svechnikov looks to be a better goal scorer than Tarasenko on potential.

 

[bigdog16]

He's closer to Tarasenko than Nash. Whether he can reach that potential is another story entirely, if people thought there was a high probability of it, he would have gone top 4. That doesn't mean there isn't a possibility of it or that it is incredibly unlikely. I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of Islanders signing him and putting him in the AHL if they trust Bridgeport to develop him, they have had issues recently. If not BC is the next best option.

Great goal scorer, great hands, decent to good passer and skater. Needs to work on his compete more, but that seemed to improve throughout the year.

Surprisingly, production wise Tarasenko is only a bit ahead of Rick Nash. People forget how good Nash was

 

[ginner classic]

Pacioretty or Boeser

 

[LordNeverLose]

Pacioretty or Boeser

Don't see either comparison. OW is a better skater than either and has better hands. Isn't as strong or good two-way as Pacioretty and might not have the offensive positioning of Boeser.

 

[SI90]

Don't see either comparison. OW is a better skater than either and has better hands. Isn't as strong or good two-way as Pacioretty and might not have the offensive positioning of Boeser.

I’d say he has better hands than Boeser and utilizes his skills better one on one as well he’s also a better skater. Wahlstroms shot and release is terrific but Boesers might be top5/10 in the world.

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Don't see either comparison. OW is a better skater than either and has better hands. Isn't as strong or good two-way as Pacioretty and might not have the offensive positioning of Boeser.

Pacioretty is a better skater than Wahlstrom, not close.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Wahlstrom is fast growing on me as one of the players to watch from this draft class. Has the makings of a stud player.

 

[Riseonfire]

I mean, Semin had the best wrist-shot in the game for a little while so I'd love Whally to hit that level. Semin's defensive issues were way overblown on the internet. He was a very skilled player and similar to Frans Nielsen, he used his stick-work to play defense more than his body. He took some tripping penalties and fell sometimes but no player is perfect.

 

[Jester9881]

During the first half of the season when the calder race was heated some Islanders and Canucks fans had some good debates and jokes about Barzal and Boeser and discussed joining the two to one team and looks like the Islanders just went ahead and found their own Boeser but three years younger and with more muscle lol

We're not there yet.... we hope he ends up as good as Boeser. That would be fantastic.

 

[Jester9881]

It's kind of hard to pin a comparison to Wahlstrom.... the odd thing is, he's a lot like a right shot Kieffer Bellows who also is hard to pin a comp to.