Patrick Roy verbally gave himself a mental note to seek out Oliver Wahlstrom, the right wing who has struggled to establish his NHL game since the Islanders selected him 11th overall in 2018. The Islanders coach wanted to reinforce to the 23-year-old he does not think he’s been playing badly.
Roy has even spoken highly of Wahlstrom’s defensive work, something rarely heard earlier in his career.
But Wahlstrom, in the lineup for the fifth straight game as the Islanders faced the Kraken on Tuesday night, has been inconsistent in the offensive zone. He entered the match with two goals and four assists in 26 games and having gotten off just one shot on net in his previous four games.
So when Roy was looking for more offense in Saturday afternoon’s 5-2 loss to the visiting Flames, he started skipping Wahlstrom in the rotation in the second and third periods.
“In this case, it has nothing to do with the system,” Roy said. “It’s the fundamentals. He needs to understand that every night he needs to play with consistency. Even me, when I started my career, I was not consistent. He’ll learn. It’s a process. Sometimes, he holds the puck a little too long. I’d like him to make quicker decisions. Sometimes he could take shots he passes on.
“I love how he’s willing to learn.”
Wahlstrom re-entered the lineup with Hudson Fasching out with a lower-body injury and skated on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s third line with Simon Holmstrom.
It’s been a trying 14 months for Wahlstrom since suffering a season-ending ACL injury on Dec. 27, 2022. He was able to rejoin the Islanders for training camp in September but has been inconsistently included in the lineup. Wahlstrom’s longest stint was 10 games from Nov. 13-Dec. 2 and Tuesday marked just the third time this season he’s dressed in at least five straight matches.
“I feel 100% but I’m pretty young so I expected to be 100% right out of the gate when I first skated in June,” Wahlstrom told Newsday. “That’s a…
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