Oliver Wahlstrom Claimed Off Waivers By Boston, The Same City Where He Scored A Filthy Shootout Goal At Age 9

The New York Islanders had to do a bit of salary cap housekeeping with starting forward Matt Barzal returning to the lineup, and that meant that Oliver Wahlstrom and Pierre Engvall were the odd men out and were both placed on waivers on Friday.

It hasn't always been smooth sailing for the 11th-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, but he didn't have to wait long before he was picked up by the Boston Bruins.

That's pretty cool for Wahlstrom. He's from Portland, Maine, so not too far away and he played one season at Boston College.

So there are connections for sure, but there are plenty of players who returned home to play in the city where they went to college too close to where they grew up.

How many can say that they're returning to the same arena -- TD Garden — where they threw down a highlight reel shootout goal for the ages?

I can't say that, and you can't say that, and most of the National Hockey League can't say that, but Oliver Wahlstrom can.

It happened about 15 years ago (Wahlstrom is 24 now and this happened when he was 9; peep those math skills), when he took part in a between-periods shootout during a Bruins game.

You see stuff like this at all levels of pro hockey, but you don't see a kid do what li'l Oliver Wahlstrom did.

I remember when this happened, and it still boggles my mind. How does a 9-year-old have enough time to practice that? You haven't been on Earth long enough to be able to do that. At 9, you've only been not crapping your pants for somewhere in the neighborhood for 6 to 7.5 years  (for some, that number is substantially lower).

I think young Oliver Wahlstrom ate, slept, and crapped hockey and it shows.

Hopefully, things go well for Wahlstrom in Boston. Sometimes you've just got to hit that reset button and Wahlstrom can do that with the Bruins.