Confirmed Trade: [EDM/SJS] Jake Walman for Carl Berglund, 2026 1st round pick

[ManofSteel55]

Great.. our bottom pair is figured out. Top 4 still has a hole at 2RD.. Kulak is not a 2RD. He is a great 3LD who can move up in a pinch. I'll go as far as to say that Ceci is a better 2RD than Kulak. Our hole remains.

Kulak has more than earned a promotion to 2RD. His pair with Nurse has been fire when they have been together this year. Lol on Ceci.

 

[Treb]

I'm not being an ass or antagonistic, serious question....

What happened? I remember shortly after the trade with Detroit, Sharks and neutrals were claiming that trade was an ultimate fleece job and that Wahlman was blossoming into a true #1 DMan.

Why would they be trading him?

UFA in 2026 and a bit old for the state of the SJ rebuild.

 

[Czechboy]

Lol on Ceci.

They were on our team 2 years in a row.. who played 2RD? Who played 3LD?

 

[MessierII]

They were on our team 2 years in a row.. who played 2RD? Who played 3LD?

Ceci and nurse were torched a lot of the time together and nurse played some of the worst hockey of his career in that stretch. Blame the coaches for not figuring that out sooner.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

If it is indeed a 1st... you gotta wonder wtf Yzerman was thinking paying to move this guy...

 

[Mattb124]

He was on the f***ing Sharks, clearly you never saw their blueline

Says the guy who clearly never saw him play for the Sharks.

 

[Captain Controversy]

So what's the scouting report on this guy.?

 

[ManofSteel55]

Who failed at 2RD? Who has excelled as 3LD and looked great at 2RD this year?

They were on our team 2 years in a row.. who played 2RD? Who played 3LD

 

[ManofSteel55]

So what's the scouting report on this guy.?

Drew Remenda was raving about him on 1440 this afternoon. Said he was easily San Jose's best defenseman this year, was used in all situations including heavy deployment against the opponents best lines. Has been great on the pk and blocks a ton of shots. The only criticism he had was that he tries to play the puck sometimes instead of taking the body. But also made it clear that he isn't afraid to play in the tough areas, so it's not that he is soft. That's just one guys opinion of course, but it sounds like a good fit.

 

[Mattb124]

So what's the scouting report on this guy.?

Pretty good but not great defensively. Can make a good first pass. Good offensively with a really hard shot, much more a trigger than a PPQB. He was on fire offensively for the first ~1/2 of the season but cooled off considerably following a return from injury.

Comparing him to Ceci who we had for most of the season and who EDM fans should be familiar with, he is pretty much better at everything other than maybe clearing the front of the net.


Edit: just checked and he was miraculously -1 for the Sharks while playing as the #1 D (Ceci was -9). He has teammates who played against lower comp that were -15, -16, and -22.

Point being, anyone who compares him to Barrie should be ignored if not removed from the site……and probably divorced by their spouse, disowned by their children, removed from all Christmas card lists, and caned in a Thai prison.

 

[Czechboy]

Who failed at 2RD? Who has excelled as 3LD and looked great at 2RD this year?

How many games do you think Kulak has played at 2RD to say he looks great at it? Agree he's a great player, I love him on the OIlers. But he's not a 2RD on a Cup contender. neither is Walman or anyone else in our organization today. We have 4 very good LD's and one good RD.

But we will have to agree to disagree.

You feel confident with Kulak as our 2RD in a Cup run and I don't. Playing over his head.. just like Ceci. FTR... I liked Ceci too and wrote the same things last year.. he was miscast.

 

[Rafafouille]

He's playing #1 D, 23 minutes a night for the current era San Jose Sharks and he's a -1 on the year. The idea that he's anywhere bad defensively is laughable.

 

[LTIR]

If it is indeed a 1st... you gotta wonder wtf Yzerman was thinking paying to move this guy...

Yzerman replaced him with Lagesson and used the cap savings on whale hunting (Tarasenko, Talbot, Kane etc)

Pretty good but not great defensively. Can make a good first pass. Good offensively with a really hard shot, much more a trigger than a PPQB. He was on fire offensively for the first ~1/2 of the season but cooled off considerably following a return from injury.

Comparing him to Ceci who we had for most of the season and who EDM fans should be familiar with, he is pretty much better at everything other than maybe clearing the front of the net.


Edit: just checked and he was miraculously -1 for the Sharks while playing as the #1 D (Ceci was -9). He has teammates who played against lower comp that were -15, -16, and -22.

Point being, anyone who compares him to Barrie should be ignored if not removed from the site……and probably divorced by their spouse, disowned by their children, removed from all Christmas card lists, and caned in a Thai prison.

Was he paired with Ceci? Did his play fall due to Ceci getting traded away?

Was he showcased as RD recently? Doesn't make sense for Oilers to add a LD...

 

[VeteranPresence]

How many games do you think Kulak has played at 2RD to say he looks great at it? Agree he's a great player, I love him on the OIlers. But he's not a 2RD on a Cup contender. neither is Walman or anyone else in our organization today. We have 4 very good LD's and one good RD.

But we will have to agree to disagree.

You feel confident with Kulak as our 2RD in a Cup run and I don't. Playing over his head.. just like Ceci. FTR... I liked Ceci too and wrote the same things last year.. he was miscast.

I'm coping by believing Walman will be flipped to a third team for a RHD, say BOS for Carlo+ or CHI for Murphy+. Doubt it though.

 

[Czechboy]

I'm coping by believing Walman will be flipped to a third team for a RHD, say BOS for Carlo+ or CHI for Murphy+. Doubt it though.

That's what I'm wondering.. are we trading one of the 4 good LD's we now have for a good RD tomorrow?

Also, I just read a second ago that we traded Hutson for Kulak.lol The pick in the trade is what Montreal used to get him.lol

 

[Mattb124]

He's playing #1 D, 23 minutes a night for the current era San Jose Sharks and he's a -1 on the year. The idea that he's anywhere bad defensively is laughable.

Just looked and the Sharks have a -65 goal differential on the season, and Walman is -1 despite playing the most minutes of any skater and against the toughest competition. As a Sharks fan, I knew Walman was good this season, but that is almost impossibly good considering how bad the Sharks have been.

 

[GreeningOil]

Great.. our bottom pair is figured out. Top 4 still has a hole at 2RD.. Kulak is not a 2RD. He is a great 3LD who can move up in a pinch. I'll go as far as to say that Ceci is a better 2RD than Kulak. Our hole remains.

A good coach utilizes good players more. Even if that means getting him the minutes in different situations.

A wealth of options is always good

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

I already hate this deal. Not sure why the Sharks do this unless they couldn’t pass up the return.

 

[karltonian]

gonna be pretty bummed if the return isn't good. this guy was the kind of value that accelerates a rebuild. he will help edm for sure.

He has surprisingly good offense, a bomb of a shot and great PPQB type play. Holds the zone VERY well.

 

[LTIR]

I already hate this deal. Not sure why the Sharks do this unless they couldn’t pass up the return.

If it fetches them a 1st then why not?
Still not clear who else is involved .. a prospect going to SJ for sure as per reports

 

[NeverForget06]

I'm coping by believing Walman will be flipped to a third team for a RHD, say BOS for Carlo+ or CHI for Murphy+. Doubt it though.

If we traded Walkman to Chicago for Connor Murphy I would cry lol

 

[LTIR]

gonna be pretty bummed if the return isn't good. this guy was the kind of value that accelerates a rebuild. he will help edm for sure.

He has surprisingly good offense, a bomb of a shot and great PPQB type play. Holds the zone VERY well.

Hopefully Oilers use him as a leverage when negotiating with Bouchard this offseason. Ship him out if he demands over 9M per with Walman being his replacement.

 

[McFlyingV]

Great.. our bottom pair is figured out. Top 4 still has a hole at 2RD.. Kulak is not a 2RD. He is a great 3LD who can move up in a pinch. I'll go as far as to say that Ceci is a better 2RD than Kulak. Our hole remains.

The bolded is an absurd claim.

 

[Mattb124]

Was he paired with Ceci? Did his play fall due to Ceci getting traded away?

Was he showcased as RD recently? Doesn't make sense for Oilers to add a LD...

Pretty sure his decline was related to injury (there haven’t been that many games since Ceci was traded, and frankly Ceci was not that good).

Don’t think he has played RD at all.

 

[On The Prowl]

Flames fans like what he brings to the Oilers too... that should tell you all you need

The Flames aren't relevant in this conversation or any conversation lil bro