Islanders Oliver Wahlstrom out a little bit longer with injury

New York Islanders prospect Oliver Wahlstrom will be out another two-weeks for Swedish side AIK.

On October 21, New York Islanders prospect Oliver Wahlstrom took a heavy fall into the board while playing for AIK in Sweden. He left the game and did not return. Originally the team indicated that Wahlstrom could be out for a week or two.

Now, two weeks after the injury, I reached out to the team and a spokesman for AIK told me that they expect Oliver Wahlstrom to be out for another two weeks.

Take the Time

On the surface that doesn’t sound great. An injury that should have taken two weeks to heal* is now going to take twice as long to heal. But consider Lou Lamoriello’s now-famous words: “when you have time, take it”.

*What Whalstrom’s injury is, isn’t clear.

The Islanders have big plans for their first-round pick in 2018. Whether that’s at the NHL or AHL level. Which is a factor to his loan spell out in Sweden. But just because the Islanders have plans for Wahlstrom doesn’t mean there’s a reason to rush him back on the ice if he isn’t ready.

We know just by following his Instagram that Wahlstrom is on the road to recovery.

His loan spell with AIK has so far been fruitful. He’s scoring at a reasonable rate considering his deployment (on the third line) and his talent level with four points in 5ish games (again he didn’t finish that sixth game).

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When I spoke to Hakan Ahlund (AIK head coach) after Wahlstrom’s first few games in Sweden, Ahlund indicated that Wahlstrom is producing as well as he’d expect but that he Isles prospect could be even more productive. He also indicated that Wahlstrom still needs to work on his defense. Something I think we’ll continue to hear throughout his career.

For now we wait a few more weeks before Wahlstrom is back on the ice.