It was not a great weekend for Edmonton Oilers defenceman Jake Walman.
While the same could be applied to the team as a whole, it's not exactly unreasonable to suggest that Walman was the majority of the problem in what was a five-goal loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After all, he was responsible for two of the Leafs' seven goals on Saturday, both of which came as a result of deflections that goaltender Tristan Jarry could not track. Take those and an empty net goal away and you have a much closer hockey game.
The bad news for Walman is that his performance on Saturday only marks the beginning of what has already been a sluggish start to the season. He only has one assist through eight games, and his +/- is already at -7, just around half of what it was last season (-17).
It's embarrassing for a team to have to consider moving him to some capacity after the first year of a $7 million contract extension, but the Oilers cannot take chances. Set aside the fact that he had 20 points last season, Walman has been somewhat of an issue on the defensive end of the ice.
Why the Washington Capitals can help Edmonton out
The Washington Capitals are, more or less, in a similar position to Edmonton. They've got a star forward-loaded roster that is capable of contending for a Stanley Cup, but they have some issues on the defensive end of the ice. Unlike Edmonton, Washington's defensive issues are partially due to the fact that Rasmus Sandin and ex-Oiler Vincent Desharnais are out due to injuries.
Washington is also being forced to put together an Ivan Miroshnichenko trade; the team recently allowed the former Hershey Bears forward to facilitate a trade. One might argue that forward help is beyond what Edmonton needs in this scenario, especially given that the Filip Hallander trade isn't exactly panning out in the team's favor (Spencer Stastney already has two points in his first seven games with the Pittsburgh Penguins).
That said, Miroshnichenko could help Edmonton address two needs at once. The Oilers are still working to get fully healthy at the forward position, and they could look to use the trade as an opportunity to move Walman.
Miroshnichenko would essentially double as a defenseman. He brings a strong two-way acumen and he is more than capable of using the boards to help his team get set up in the offensive zone and string together scoring chances. That's the kind of portfolio that Zach Hyman brings to the Oilers, and he's someone that has thrived under Mike Babcock's coaching systems in Toronto and now in Edmonton.
If the Oilers were to pull off the latter, they would need to take a defenseman's contract off Washington's hands. The top candidate is Justin Holl, a veteran defenseman that helped the Toronto Maple Leafs end their postseason woes (partially) before spending time with the Detroit Red Wings and St Louis Blues. Obviously, Holl would be a downgrade on Walman in terms of point-scoring, but the +/- measure would improve to some extent. After all, we are talking about a defenseman that recorded four consecutive seasons with a +/- rating in the positive double-digits.
Together, Miroshnichenko and Holl's cap hit would be equal to $1.825 million. Even if the Oilers had to take on half of Walman's cap hit to help Washington make the money work, they would still be adding around $1.7 million back to their salary cap space.
And here's the thing: they don't even have to field either player. It would be nice to have Miroshnichenko learn alongside two lines worth of superstar forwards and then give him and others the reins once they leave, but they could send him to Bakersfield for half that time and achieve the same goal.
The same goes for Holl, who the Oilers could trade to a team that is selling at the deadline in an effort to get defensive help for a Stanley Cup run. That frees up a further $900,000 dollars that the Oilers can use to bring another defenseman onto the roster. But if the Oilers opt to put Woll onto a fourth-line pairing, then the $900,000 contract essentially becomes a prove-it deal that can also double as an avenue for Holl to win the Stanley Cup.
It's a convoluted route, and the Oilers will almost certainly have to take on half of Walman's contract for the next handful of seasons. But it allows the Oilers to remain ready to address needs in their forward group while also positioning themselves to improve on the other end of the ice.
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