NY Islanders have signed Oliver Wahlstrom to a one-year contract

The deadline for forward Oliver Wahlstrom to sign his qualifying offer with the team came and went on Saturday, but on Monday afternoon, the New York Islanders announced the 23-year-old had signed a one-year contract with the team.

Per reports, Wahlstrom indeed signed his qualifying offer, which was $874,125. The new AAV for Wahlstrom will be slightly lower than the AAV cap hit he carried the previous three seasons after the 2018 first-round pick signed a 3-year, $4.387M contract in 2019 which held an AAV of $894.167.

Unless another transaction is announced, the signing of Wahlstrom will put the Islanders over the salary cap for the moment with Wahlstrom still listed as on Injured Reserve. Overall, teams are allowed to be 10% over the cap during the off-season so this won't be an issue for the Islanders, who have some options. Per Cap Friendly, the team had just $387,500 before the Wahlstrom signing.

Wahlstrom had seven goals and nine assists in 35 games last season for the Islanders before suffering a season-ending injury in December. At the conclusion of the season, Wahlstrom stated to the media that he thought the injury served as a bit t of a blessing.

"Very frustrating," Wahlstrom said about his injury on May 1st. "I thought I had a really good summer and a pretty good first half to the season. But it’s part of the game."

"These first 3-4 years in the league, I’ve been learning a lot," Wahlstrom added. "This new injury, the first year in the playoffs, the second year not in the playoffs. Really, I’m kind of fortunate this injury happened; a little setback for me to calm down and relax. Do the things I can do to put myself in the best position to return as quickly as possible next year."

A backstory as we head toward the start of the season is that Wahlstrom was reportedly part of a trade package along with JG Pageau that would've gone to the Ottawa Senators in a deal for winger Alex DeBrincat. With GM Lou Lamoriello saying that the trade market is how the team would further improve next season, it's possible that Wahlstrom could still be part of another move during the summer.

The Islanders have said that Wahlstrom is expected to be ready to go for the start of training camp in September following last season's injury. It's shaping up to be another pivotal season for Wahlstrom has he aims to establish himself as a NHL regular that can turn his plus shot into a consistent scorer.