The Oilers traded for Defenceman Jake Walman this past Thursday, March 6th. Sending a prospect, Carl Berglund, and a conditional 1st round pick to the San Jose Sharks in return.
Jake Walman is a 29 year old left-shot defencemen with 252 career games over seven years under his belt. Listed as 6’1″, 218 lbs he is not the easiest fellow to bump off the puck. Walman is generally considered an offensive, puck moving defenceman with above average speed.
Jake Wallman playing career
Walman played college hockey with Providence College for three years, putting up 69 points in 107 games. He was drafted in the third round, 82nd overall, by the St. Louis Blues.
Walman spent parts of four years in the AHL. He played very limited games with St. Louis before being traded to Detroit in 2022 where he was given a bigger role and started to show more promise.
Last offseason Walman was traded to the San Jose Sharks where he has become one of their premier defencemen.
Jake Wallman career statistics
Walman has been on an impressive 52 point pace this season.
| Year | TM | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S% | ATOI | BLK | HIT | T/A | G/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | STL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 11:04 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020-21 | STL | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -7 | 8 | 2.1 | 14:28 | 20 | 26 | 6 | 16 |
| 2021-22 | 2TM | 51 | 3 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 10 | 3.4 | 14:01 | 58 | 47 | 9 | 22 |
| 2021-22 | STL | 32 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6.3 | 11:59 | 26 | 21 | 5 | 11 |
| 2021-22 | DET | 19 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -6 | 4 | 0.0 | 17:28 | 32 | 26 | 4 | 11 |
| 2022-23 | DET | 63 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 10 | 45 | 6.4 | 19:43 | 121 | 47 | 33 | 36 |
| 2023-24 | DET | 63 | 12 | 9 | 21 | -2 | 44 | 11.1 | 19:46 | 151 | 42 | 18 | 27 |
| 2024-25 | SJS | 50 | 6 | 26 | 32 | -1 | 36 | 4.8 | 23:11 | 111 | 48 | 23 | 63 |
| NHL | NHL | 252 | 31 | 52 | 83 | -2 | 143 | 6.1 | 18:44 | 462 | 210 | 89 | 164 |
Walman player profile
As stated before, Walman sits on the offensive side of the spectrum.
Not that it’s such an astonishing accomplishment considering the team he played for but Walman was the highest scoring defencman on the Sharks. Walman put up 32 points in 50 games, a 52 point pace. This puts him in second on the Oilers in points by defenceman this year. With only 7 power-play points this year, Walman has not been a so called power-play merchant. For this reason, there is quite a bit to be optimistic for about Walman.
Walman isn’t the youngest fellow, already 29 years old. He has spent significant time developing in the AHL but since his promotion to the NHL has increased his point per game pace every single year.
This was a great time to acquire Walman, on the rise in his career but not yet high profile.
The Underlying Statistics
We know his stats are solid but how are his underlying stats?
Walman could be doing a little better on that front but that is guaranteed to be a product of the teams he has played for in the past, Detroit not being great the past few years and San Jose being a complete dumpster fire – not that they don’t have a good looking future. So far as Corsi %, SF%, GF%, xGF%, SCF%, and HDCF% he could be better, sitting just below 50% in most of those fields, indicating that the other team is getting the better of his team while he is on the ice.
As stated before though, this, as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow morning, will change drastically when he starts playing for the Oilers. Even though his underlying stats could be better, they are not bad for playing on one of the worst teams in the league.
The far more encouraging half of his underlying stats is the relative side. that is to say, his team is A LOT better when he is on the ice, compared to when he is not on the ice.
Where does Walman fit into the Edmonton Oilers lineup/organization
The defence, when healthy, have generally been lining up:
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Emberson
Certainly Walman will slot into either Stecher or Embersons spot. Personally I see him as a better fit with Kulak. As a defensively responsible defenceman he will give Walman the freedom to play how he usually does. Playing with Nurse is certainly possible but they will both have to cognizant of possible defensive lapses.
Walman was traded for a prospect and a 1st round pick, some might consider this a high price, but, considering the impressive point totals he was putting up with a low tier team, he may very well end up a very important part of the Oilers for some time to come, we’ll see how he pans out right away as the Oilers face the newly bolstered Dallas Stars tonight in a massive Western Conference clash.
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