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AUSTRALIAN ice hockey trailblazer Nathan Walker has been given a second chance after he was waived by the Washington Capitals.
The 23-year-old was picked up off waivers by the Edmonton Oilers, after his original team Washington hoped to send him down to the club’s lower-level squad, the Hershey Bears.
The forward became the first ever Aussie to both play and score in the NHL when he goaled in his first ever game.
Walker will play along side star Connor McDavid with the Oilers.
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“I like to think I’m speedy and I can get in on the forecheck and disrupt the D,” Walker told the Oilers’ website.
“Hopefully I can just bring the energy and the game that I bring in a positive way to Edmonton.”
Washington coach Barry Trotz said he hoped Walker found greater opportunities at his new club.
“He needs to play because he’s not getting any better,” Trotz said.
“He’s a player that, I think it was the right thing to do, to get him down, and hopefully he gets a consistent opportunity in Edmonton.
“If he does and he makes it, that’s fantastic. If he doesn’t, then we have an opportunity to reclaim him. But that’s what waivers are there for.
“Everyone knows Walks is a terrific young man, but he needs to play and needs to develop. His game is not there yet, and he has to continue to develop. He can’t do it not playing.”
