The San Jose Sharks have used the team’s massive amount of cap space to take on a salary dump. The Sharks agreed to take defenseman Jake Walman and a 2024 second-round pick (53rd overall) from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for future considerations.
Walman is signed for two more years on a contract with a $3.4 million AAV. The 53rd overall draft pick was something the Red Wings received from the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier in the day, when the Wings traded Andrew Gibson to the Nashville Predators for the pick and Jesse Kiiskinen.
UPDATE: The #RedWings today acquired a 2nd round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft (originally Tampa’s) and forward Jesse Kiiskinen from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Andrew Gibson. pic.twitter.com/OCJ0wOUoJ7
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 25, 2024
Both moves indicate that Detroit General Manager Steve Yzerman might be moving salary out to make room for a bigger move down the road.
What we know about Jake Walman
Walman is a 28-year-old defenseman who had 21 points (12 G, 9 A) in 63 games with Detroit last season. Those were career highs in both categories. He was second on the Red Wings with 154:15 of shorthanded ice time and averaged 19:46 per game last season. He blocked 151 shots.
Walman is listed as 6-foot-1, 218 pounds. He has played 202 career NHL games, split between the St. Louis Blues and the Red Wings. The Blues selected him 82nd overall in the 2014 NHL Draft.
Looking at Walman’s regularized-adjusted plus-minus chart (RAPM) courtesy of Evolving-Hockey, you see that his numbers weren’t much better than other defensemen on the Sharks last season.
That said, he logged some time on the power play and helped maintain possession of the puck during his time on the man advantage.
According to Evolving-Hockey, his goals above replacement (GAR) this past season was better than Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Jan Rutta and Calen Addison.
Basically, Walman looks like he was among the least effective defensemen on the Red Wings, but he’s still a slight upgrade to San Jose’s blueline.
San Jose’s 2024 Draft outlook
The trade’s biggest piece isn’t the addition of Walman, but the 2024 second-round pick. The Sharks now have five picks in the first 55 picks. That’s two first-rounders and three in the second-rounders. That’s plenty of draft capital and there are a lot of good players the Sharks could draft with those picks.
What’s more, the Sharks can now use two of those second-rounders to trade up on draft day if there’s a specific player the team wants in the 5-10 range.
