Jake Walman sat in the press box for the Edmonton Oilers' matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers. The scratch was his sixth in eight games, and the treatment is one of the clearest signs the Oilers head coach Mike Babcock isn't taking contract value into consideration when making his lineup decisions. Walman will likely find his way onto the ice soon, but this surely isn't the usage blueprint Oilers general manager Stan Bowman had in mind when he committed long term to the 30 year old defenseman.
Walman's ice time has declined consistently in each of his seasons as an Oiler. from over twenty minutes per night following his arrival via trade from the San Jose Sharks, to around eighteen minutes a night in a struggle-filled 2025-26 season, and this year, when he gets a game in, his minutes sit closer to fourteen. That's a trend that needs to reverse if the team is going to get any value from Walman as either a roster player or a trade chip.
Not scoring
With only one assist in his eleven games this year, Walman doesn't appear to be adding much offensively. Combining that with the -8 plus/minus he has posted to date, we begin to see why coach Babcock hasn't been dressing him. If Walman isn't moving the needle at either end of the ice, then it makes sense to experiment with other players in his spot. Contract value doesn't mean particularly much if the one ice play doesn't correlate.
Walman has also struggled with injury, both early in this season, and over the course of the previous one. It's very possible that his overall health is connected to his play. If we look backward at Walman's injury history, almost all of the recent events are "undisclosed". That isn't all that uncommon these days, but scrolling back to his days as a Detroit Red Wing, we see a significant amount of time missed due to a shoulder injury.
If Walman's multiple stretches last year and this year are all connected to a persistent shoulder issue, it could certainly explain the drop off in play. Oiler fans will remember the early end to Oscar Klefbom's career due to shoulder problems. The National Hockey League is a tough place to operate in when you're nat at 100% health, and shoulder injuries have a tendency to never fully heal. More than one player has had to shut it down and undergo surgery after exhausting every other option that might keep them on the ice.
Those of us who saw him in the 2024-25 Stanley Cup Playoffs know that there is a better version of the player. But if Walman can't pull his on-ice play up to where the team needs him to be, his $7 million cap hit could be a thorn in the Oilers' side for years to come.
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