Confirmed with Link: Jake Walman to Edmonton for F Carl Berglund and Conditional 1st

[Hodge]

You are making stuff up.

Defensemen often make the nhl later than forwards and take longernto develop. Calling him being called up when he was 22-23 in 2019-2020 is hardly indicative or worthy of being called a season. When he was 23-24 the 2nd year that was really more like a first, he only played 24 games.(which should be noted was only a 56 game season)

After that he had no problem cracking an nhl lineup in his 24-25 seaskn

In the 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 seasons, he played 51, 63 and 63 games. He didnt play more because he was injured each year. Twice during the year he only played 51.
So no he didnt have trouble cracking nhl lineup. He also in addition to being injurednwasnin covid protocol a few times. You didnt do your homework and made shit up that you wanted to be true cuz of your agenda.


Also he was 28 this year just turned 29 in late february. Andnhe was making lineups regularly since his 24-25 aged season.

He turned pro in 2016-17 and didn't appear in more than 32 games in a NHL season until 2022-23 when he was 26/27 years old. That season and the first 20 games or so this year are the only points in his career that he's looked anything like a #4D. Sure, defensemen take a bit longer to develop than forwards, but that's a very limited track record of success for a 29 year old. This fanbase loves to shit on Ferraro but he's played 150 more games than Walman despite being 2.5 years younger. You know what you're going to get from Ferraro but Walman is still a wild card despite nearing the end of his physical prime.

 

[spintops]

My original crusade was simply that Walman had negative trade value given his contract last offseason which is undeniably true

Lol try to stop for once dude.

 

[one2gamble]

I am getting a bit concerned about the defense next year.

 

[spintops]

I am getting a bit concerned about the defense next year.

I think they bring in at least 2 from FA/trades. I like it, get the first and then buy when the price is cheaper or when you have to spend dollars in FA. If we sign two upgrades on Ferraro/Walman while getting two first round picks then MG is really cooking. I understand this is somewhat a big IF, but it's not impossible

 

[LadyStanley]

Sharks acquire conditional 2026 1st-round pick and Carl Berglund from Edmonton for Jake Walman. | San Jose Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) General Manager Mike Grier announced today that the club has acquired a conditional 2026 first round draft selection and forward Carl Berglund from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for defenseman Jake Walman. The conditions on the 2026 first...

www.nhl.com

Official announcement

 

[Skeksis25]

I mean, we should be very concerned about the defense even if Walman, Ceci and Ferraro were mainstays on it. Even with them, its an atrocious defense. I don't think we should worry so much about the defense just because of losing them. Losing them just makes a dumpster fire a slightly bigger dumpster fire?

If someone wants to give up another first for Ferraro, we should absolutely do that deal. I understand that the odds of finding a good player with a late first is very low, but accumulating these picks gives us ammo. Worst case, it gives us extra darts to throw at prospect boards. But it also gives us trade currency that we could use to move up in the draft, or target players that may become available and fit what we want like Byram, Nemec or Dobson.

The D definitely needs to get better and probably needs to get better starting this offseason. Specially if the plan is to have Askarov at least split the load next year. We don't want to break him. But hanging on to guys like Walman and Ferraro isn't doing it. The D is awful even with them in the lineup.

 

[GRANdSharks]

While the D is trash rn keep in mind that we still have a full off-season to make additions and loads of cap space and trade assets to jump on someone who becomes available.
The reality is our current d core just was never gonna cut it long term so tearing it down for better assets makes sense. This is a lost season at this point may as well go all in on securing a top 3 pick

 

[STL Shark]

I am getting a bit concerned about the defense next year.

I am actually less concerned in a way. Would be more concerning for Grier to see guys like Walman/Ferraro and think they're actually suited for their roles on this team and double down with extensions for them.

It's more reassuring seeing that he recognizes they're limited players and we need better, so he's freeing up cap space, roster spots, and adding assets to be able to get the better players needed there.

I think we see a big summer for Grier and Co. to get the defense situated and surround the youngsters with a more complete lineup. Be more concerned if they stayed status quo and just assumed that Mack/Smith/Eklund getting better was going to magically create a 30 point jump in the standings.

 

[Bizz]

Moar Lunds.

 

[fasterthanlight]

Crazy value ngl

 

[rekrul]

I mean, we should be very concerned about the defense even if Walman, Ceci and Ferraro were mainstays on it. Even with them, its an atrocious defense. I don't think we should worry so much about the defense just because of losing them. Losing them just makes a dumpster fire a slightly bigger dumpster fire?

If someone wants to give up another first for Ferraro, we should absolutely do that deal. I understand that the odds of finding a good player with a late first is very low, but accumulating these picks gives us ammo. Worst case, it gives us extra darts to throw at prospect boards. But it also gives us trade currency that we could use to move up in the draft, or target players that may become available and fit what we want like Byram, Nemec or Dobson.

The D definitely needs to get better and probably needs to get better starting this offseason. Specially if the plan is to have Askarov at least split the load next year. We don't want to break him. But hanging on to guys like Walman and Ferraro isn't doing it. The D is awful even with them in the lineup.

Competing with the rest of the league with more cap space, sharks will have to
-Overpay in $$/Term for the slightly better Ceci type
- Trade their from their B prospect pool for an overpaid Mid tier D like Farraro
- Leverage the #1 Dallas and/or Haulttunen-musty for a legit top pairing D
- Hope someone from the system can play minuets on D

Fact is they played better hockey in Nov when Walmen and Blackwood in G was shoring things up, they improved their later part of this decade and will have to score a lot of pieces just to get back to maybe "not the worst team in the league" next year. And the 24-25 team was far better on paper than the historically bad 23-24 team with a AHL roster.

 

[Skeksis25]

Competing with the rest of the league with more cap space, sharks will have to
-Overpay in $$/Term for the slightly better Ceci type
- Trade their from their B prospect pool for an overpaid Mid tier D like Farraro
- Leverage the #1 Dallas and/or Haulttunen-musty for a legit top pairing D
- Hope someone from the system can play minuets on D

Fact is they played better hockey in Nov when Walmen and Blackwood in G was shoring things up, they improved their later part of this decade and will have to score a lot of pieces just to get back to maybe "not the worst team in the league" next year. And the 24-25 team was far better on paper than the historically bad 23-24 team with a AHL roster.

If November Walman was the real Walman, then you would obviously want to hang on to him. It has become increasingly more obvious that November Walman was a hot streak and the real Walman is basically who he has been his whole career.

 

[JediOrderPizza]

Damn Grier, nicely done. Also because I'm petty.

 

[STL Shark]

Competing with the rest of the league with more cap space, sharks will have to
-Overpay in $$/Term for the slightly better Ceci type
- Trade their from their B prospect pool for an overpaid Mid tier D like Farraro
- Leverage the #1 Dallas and/or Haulttunen-musty for a legit top pairing D
- Hope someone from the system can play minuets on D

Fact is they played better hockey in Nov when Walmen and Blackwood in G was shoring things up, they improved their later part of this decade and will have to score a lot of pieces just to get back to maybe "not the worst team in the league" next year. And the 24-25 team was far better on paper than the historically bad 23-24 team with a AHL roster.

You realize that this team is only like 4 points away from passing the 2023-24 team with 18 games to go even with moving our best pieces 1-3 months ago?

This team is improved, but still not good. Having roster spots filled with a bunch of the guys that contributed to the "still not good" team limits the ability to make upgrades to be good. The issues lie way deeper than the "just replace Thrun/Goodrow" rhetoric we see around here.

We need more TOP END players, which means we need more capital to go acquire them. Grier has already accumulated an entire draft's worth of additional picks since June between Walman (1st and 2nd), Granlund/Ceci (1st, 3rd, 4th), Blackwood (2nd), and Sturm (4th). Those are insanely vital pieces in our quest to get the top end talent required to compete with a team like Colorado.

 

[TheBeard]

You realize that this team is only like 4 points away from passing the 2023-24 team with 18 games to go even with moving our best pieces 1-3 months ago?

I’m not sure they’ll surpass last year’s total now and even still it required like 7 points in the last 5 games to get to this pace.

We need more TOP END players, which means we need more capital to go acquire them. Grier has already accumulated an entire draft's worth of additional picks since June between Walman (1st and 2nd), Granlund/Ceci (1st, 3rd, 4th), Blackwood (2nd), and Sturm (4th). Those are insanely vital pieces in our quest to get the top end talent required to compete with a team like Colorado.

These vital pieces (late firsts) won’t get you high end talent, but the Jake Walman’s and Granlunds of the league. You want high end talent? Grier is gonna have to stake his reputation by dipping into his prospect pool as well. That’s ultimately how he’ll be judged. When he’s on the other side.

 

[one2gamble]

I am actually less concerned in a way. Would be more concerning for Grier to see guys like Walman/Ferraro and think they're actually suited for their roles on this team and double down with extensions for them.

It's more reassuring seeing that he recognizes they're limited players and we need better, so he's freeing up cap space, roster spots, and adding assets to be able to get the better players needed there.

I think we see a big summer for Grier and Co. to get the defense situated and surround the youngsters with a more complete lineup. Be more concerned if they stayed status quo and just assumed that Mack/Smith/Eklund getting better was going to magically create a 30 point jump in the standings.

I suppose this is true, I just have a hard time looking around and seeing readily available upgrades that will sign here and I dont think we have an excess number of valuable assets that can be moved. They have plenty of money but people need to be willing.

 

[Hodge]

It would be nice to land Byram or Dobson but realistically neither guy is a perfect fit in terms of timeline or defensive ability. Gavrikov is a great defender but when Celebrini is 25 he'll be 35 so I'm not sure it makes sense to sign him to the max term deal he'll command.

We need to draft and develop a legit #1 and #2. There's really no getting around it. Thankfully it looks like Dickinson is on track to becoming a solid #2. If he's on the Thomas Harley timeline, we should expect him to be a good middle pairing option by the 2027-2028 season. If we land Schaefer I would expect him to be a top pair guy around the same time. Once those two are in place it will be easy enough to fill out the rest of the blueline via UFA and trade.

Grier is clearly prioritizing maximization of the future Cup window over improving in the short term. It will be frustrating for a few more seasons, and I'll admit it makes me nervous how that will affect Celebrini and Smith's desire to sign long term contracts, but it's probably the right move.

 

[themelkman]

Getting good mobile D is clearly very hard these days. I am worried about how we can rebuild this d core when we haven’t had a lot of success with any of these young guys

 

[sampler]

I

It would be nice to land Byram or Dobson but realistically neither guy is a perfect fit in terms of timeline or defensive ability. Gavrikov is a great defender but when Celebrini is 25 he'll be 35 so I'm not sure it makes sense to sign him to the max term deal he'll command.

We need to draft and develop a legit #1 and #2. There's really no getting around it. Thankfully it looks like Dickinson is on track to becoming a solid #2. If he's on the Thomas Harley timeline, we should expect him to be a good middle pairing option by the 2027-2028 season. If we land Schaefer I would expect him to be a top pair guy around the same time. Once those two are in place it will be easy enough to fill out the rest of the blueline via UFA and trade.

Grier is clearly prioritizing maximization of the future Cup window over improving in the short term. It will be frustrating for a few more seasons, and I'll admit it makes me nervous how that will affect Celebrini and Smith's desire to sign long term contracts, but it's probably the right move.

I think your assessment on grier's intentions is accurate. it almost feels like he is throwing in the towel on next year, and maybe the year after, barring a miracle.

Im not pleased. A late '26 1st is all they got. They woulda gotten that for walman as a rental. Everywhere I read, they praise grier for his return, but I just dont get it.

Who is gunna play D next year and beyond? This move seems like Grier is looking way into the future...

 

[Jargon]

It would be nice to land Byram or Dobson but realistically neither guy is a perfect fit in terms of timeline or defensive ability. Gavrikov is a great defender but when Celebrini is 25 he'll be 35 so I'm not sure it makes sense to sign him to the max term deal he'll command.

We need to draft and develop a legit #1 and #2. There's really no getting around it. Thankfully it looks like Dickinson is on track to becoming a solid #2. If he's on the Thomas Harley timeline, we should expect him to be a good middle pairing option by the 2027-2028 season. If we land Schaefer I would expect him to be a top pair guy around the same time. Once those two are in place it will be easy enough to fill out the rest of the blueline via UFA and trade.

Grier is clearly prioritizing maximization of the future Cup window over improving in the short term. It will be frustrating for a few more seasons, and I'll admit it makes me nervous how that will affect Celebrini and Smith's desire to sign long term contracts, but it's probably the right move.

I agree with your general premise, the issue of course is that it hinges entirely on us getting Schaefer. I also do think Grier wants to improve the team — not just for morale but like, do we want Askarov to be lit up every game all season next season? Is it beneficial for Celebrini and Smith to once again be on the worst team on the league?

I think Grier got these 1sts with the full intention of flipping them for help. And I think he’ll be pretty aggressive this summer.

That said, I do think that he’s very specifically building the team patiently, one block at a time, so the fixes this summer will be temporary (high AAV shorter term for vets) unless he swings like a Marner signing.

I

I think your assessment on grier's intentions is accurate. it almost feels like he is throwing in the towel on next year, and maybe the year after, barring a miracle.

Im not pleased. A late '26 1st is all they got. They woulda gotten that for walman as a rental. Everywhere I read, they praise grier for his return, but I just dont get it.

Who is gunna play D next year and beyond? This move seems like Grier is looking way into the future...

I wouldn’t lament just yet. I don’t think he’s nearly done or throwing in the towel next season, I think he’s loading up for trades to bring in help.

 

[Hodge]

I

I think your assessment on grier's intentions is accurate. it almost feels like he is throwing in the towel on next year, and maybe the year after, barring a miracle.

Im not pleased. A late '26 1st is all they got. They woulda gotten that for walman as a rental. Everywhere I read, they praise grier for his return, but I just dont get it.

Who is gunna play D next year and beyond? This move seems like Grier is looking way into the future...

If Walman regresses to his 2023-24 self - and he appears well on his way based on his performance since returning from the injury - we wouldn't be able to get anything for him as a rental next year. Turning future considerations into a 1st and 2nd rounder is too big of a rebuild W to pass up. Can't look a gift horse in the mouth, etc.

I agree with your general premise, the issue of course is that it hinges entirely on us getting Schaefer. I also do think Grier wants to improve the team — not just for morale but like, do we want Askarov to be lit up every game all season next season? Is it beneficial for Celebrini and Smith to once again be on the worst team on the league?

I think Grier got these 1sts with the full intention of flipping them for help. And I think he’ll be pretty aggressive this summer.

That said, I do think that he’s very specifically building the team patiently, one block at a time, so the fixes this summer will be temporary (high AAV shorter term for vets) unless he swings like a Marner signing.



I wouldn’t lament just yet. I don’t think he’s nearly done or throwing in the towel next season, I think he’s loading up for trades to bring in help.

I didn't think much of it at the time but right after the Granlund trade Grier did specifically tell the media he wants to draft "future core players" with our 1st, the Dallas 1st and our 2nd. That doesn't mean he won't trade the latter two picks under any circumstances, but I don't think he plans to.

My guess is we'll be shopping in the Walman/Ceci market again. Maybe we're giving up a late 2nd and 3rd this time instead of getting them as sweeteners so we can expect defensemen with slightly better reputations but highly unlikely they'll be Byram or Dobson caliber.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I think your assessment on grier's intentions is accurate. it almost feels like he is throwing in the towel on next year, and maybe the year after, barring a miracle.

Im not pleased. A late '26 1st is all they got. They woulda gotten that for walman as a rental. Everywhere I read, they praise grier for his return, but I just dont get it.

Who is gunna play D next year and beyond? This move seems like Grier is looking way into the future...

I think it's more Grier picking up more movable assets to go after players he wants to bring in. I don't expect the Sharks to use both this and next year's extra 1st round picks on drafting someone.

 

[sampler]

I think it's more Grier picking up more movable assets to go after players he wants to bring in. I don't expect the Sharks to use both this and next year's extra 1st round picks on drafting someone.

I hope you are right. I really dont wanna spend another year or two mired in dead last. I dont think its good for the kids, and I don't think its very fun to watch loss after loss. Im a little (OK, a lot) tired of it...

The only problem I see is that with the cap up so much, its not going to be hard for teams to retain top RFAs. This is gunna make D acquisition harder.

And, at this point, the sharks have zero top 4 D and only really 4 top 6 F (Zett, Ek, Celly, Smith) with Toffoli and wennberg as support in the short term.

In short, we need like a small army to come in to be even moderately reasonable next year. I dunno grier's plan, but the number of holes on this roster is so ample that I do not see a pathway toward greatness other than drafting, and if you are picking your future team today, then you are going to stink at least 3-5 more years. ARGH!

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I hope you are right. I really dont wanna spend another year or two mired in dead last. I dont think its good for the kids, and I don't think its very fun to watch loss after loss. Im a little (OK, a lot) tired of it...

The only problem I see is that with the cap up so much, its not going to be hard for teams to retain top RFAs. This is gunna make D acquisition harder.

And, at this point, the sharks have zero top 4 D and only really 4 top 6 F (Zett, Ek, Celly, Smith) with Toffoli and wennberg as support in the short term.

In short, we need like a small army to come in to be even moderately reasonable next year. I dunno grier's plan, but the number of holes on this roster is so ample that I do not see a pathway toward greatness other than drafting, and if you are picking your future team today, then you are going to stink at least 3-5 more years. ARGH!

At this point, the Sharks need a legitimate top pairing, a top-six caliber forward, and a reasonably reliable goalie for next season. It's still going to be a rough year because chances are we are running with an inexperienced group of players. Askarov is going to get the lion's share of the starts as long as he's healthy as a rookie. Mukhamadullin looks like he will have the upper hand for a top four defenseman spot. We could have a teenager defenseman or an undersized second year pro defenseman on the 3rd pair. A healthy chunk of our top nine is going to have guys going into their 3rd year or less experienced between Eklund, Celebrini, Smith, Graf, Kovalenko, and the possibility of someone like Chernyshov or Musty or Bystedt. How much better next year we are is dependent on the moves we make on the backend and how much development our young players make. Young teams tend to be inconsistent and they have to learn how to put it together.

 

[SjMilhouse]

1st and 2nd for nothing is a phenomenal move. I liked Walman but he never hit a griddy as a Shark and therefore he needed to go.

I still don't understand this boards obsessive rush to contend. Celebrini is 18, Smith is 19, Dickinson is still in the CHL.

Grier has done a master class rebuilding the prospect pool and acquiring good trade assets. While he hasn't done much yet in terms of building toward a contender via trades (acquiring established players) he still managed to acquire a 1C, Dickinson, and 1G. If we land Schaefer we are basically set on the hardest pieces to acquire and can begin to build toward future contender status.

I have faith in Grier to do this an I believe he is executing his personal plan to perfection as I don't think he planned to be super competitive this year or even next. I think he wanted to see improvement, which he got despite the standings, and I will wait to see what he does in the offseason and during the season next year. Patience is key