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

[TheBeard]

Before regressing the next season to the point that he was healthy scratched when the Red Wings made their playoff push and then cap dumped.

This is a 29 year old player who has - being generous here - maybe 100 games of resembling a NHLer across his entire career to date. Nobody has any idea what he'll look like next season.

I have a fairly good idea. He’ll look like a Norris candidate in 10 games, a serviceable guys for another 30 and a complete trainwreck for the remaining 42.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

While this would not be my choice (I'd still dump both - neither is a good player), I think this is correct. He knew he had a logjam of LHD down the road and traded one. Whether he traded Walman because he liked Ferraro more or because Walman would bring more in return we don't know.

It’s still very possible Ferraro is traded before next season starts. If Ferraro has similar value, being able to retain on him in July to secure that value while trying to bring in an upgrade is a good idea.

 

[Star Platinum]

It’s actually hard to be cynical 24/7 about getting a 1st, 2nd, and 50 games of top pairing D play for free.

I was with you until "50 games of top pairing D play." He flipped something that was way undervalued when it became way overvalued in a seller's market. That's all this was.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Four years UMass-Lowell. Not surprised.

He's big, he studied in Boston, and he's a Lund. The first was the throw-in...

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

Before regressing the next season to the point that he was healthy scratched when the Red Wings made their playoff push and then cap dumped.

This is a 29 year old player who has - being generous here - maybe 100 games of resembling a NHLer across his entire career to date. Nobody has any idea what he'll look like next season.

Right, this is all totally reasonable. And it’s why you have to make the trade even if you like Walman (which I did).

But you have to admit, this is also pretty far from your original crusade. Which, with the benefit of hindsight, was clearly misguided.

 

[Star Platinum]

Walman couldn't get a permanent spot in the NHL until he was the age that Ferraro is now. He was one of the worst defensemen in the league by any measure just last season. Is that the real Walman, or is the real Walman the guy we saw for a few weeks in October and November?

My honest guess is that the real answer lies somewhere in between. I think he will look better than he has recently for Edmonton, but I don't think he'll ever look again like he did the first part of this season for anyone. And a big part of that is that at best, he'll be on PP2 for Edmonton if he's on any power play unit at all.

 

[Jargon]

I think Mike really wanted another 1st round pick. He tried with Ferraro, failed, and got a bite on Walman. I don’t hate getting a 1st — especially because I’m not sure we’re totally done trading and as we saw with the Hertl trade, this/Dallas picks might go to getting us a high end D-man yet:

That said, they really need to fix their defense and while Walman is good-to-fine, at least he was a Top-4 guy who could move the puck. Right now we have… what, 3 #4s at best (Muhk, Ferraro, Liljegren) and then a bunch of #6 and #7s? It’s grim and if Grier wants improvement on this team next year, he’s going to have to pull of a couple of miracles to fix the mess on the backend.

Anyway, getting a 1st and 2nd for Walman is still insane.

 

[Hodge]

Right, this is all totally reasonable. And it’s why you have to make the trade even if you like Walman (which I did).

But you have to admit, this is also pretty far from your original crusade. Which, with the benefit of hindsight, was clearly misguided.

My original crusade was simply that Walman had negative trade value given his contract last offseason which is undeniably true based on all available evidence (at best, you have Seravalli saying some teams might have taken him for free).

But yeah I was obviously wrong to think Walman still had negative value. At the same time, trading a 1st for him seems like an insane move by a clearly incompetent front office. Time will tell.

 

[Star Platinum]

It’s still very possible Ferraro is traded before next season starts. If Ferraro has similar value, being able to retain on him in July to secure that value while trying to bring in an upgrade is a good idea.

Oh, I still expect him to get traded somewhere between tomorrow and the trading deadline next season barring some catastrophic injury because the calculus isn't going to change. We have potentially four young left-handed defensemen that will be competing for spots over the next 1-3 years. Ferraro will be looking for a better team in 2026 and we'll want to get something for him before then.

 

[Hodge]

It really is mind boggling that they let Broberg walk for a mid 2nd then traded a 1st for a shittier defenseman who's 7 years older.

 

[Hodge]

I think Mike really wanted another 1st round pick. He tried with Ferraro, failed, and got a bite on Walman. I don’t hate getting a 1st — especially because I’m not sure we’re totally done trading and as we saw with the Hertl trade, this/Dallas picks might go to getting us a high end D-man yet:

That said, they really need to fix their defense and while Walman is good-to-fine, at least he was a Top-4 guy who could move the puck. Right now we have… what, 3 #4s at best (Muhk, Ferraro, Liljegren) and then a bunch of #6 and #7s? It’s grim and if Grier wants improvement on this team next year, he’s going to have to pull of a couple of miracles to fix the mess on the backend.

Anyway, getting a 1st and 2nd for Walman is still insane.

We just need Schaefer and everything else will fall into place. Schaefer, Dickinson and Shak on the left side means we can settle for less on the right.

 

[Jargon]

We just need Schaefer and everything else will fall into place. Schaefer, Dickinson and Shak on the left side means we can settle for less on the right.

Yeah, Schaefer would be huge obviously. But we need to field a team next year that ideally isn’t garbage. I’m not saying it has to be a playoff team but it’s gotta be better than this, which means some defense upgrades to give Dickinson and Schaefer time to cook.

 

[Star Platinum]

Yeah, Schaefer would be huge obviously. But we need to field a team next year that ideally isn’t garbage. I’m not saying it has to be a playoff team but it’s gotta be better than this, which means some defense upgrades to give Dickinson and Schaefer time to cook.

My hope for the offseason is that we get better guys than Walman, Ceci, and Liljegren. Probably none of them will be legitimate top pairing guys, but if they can play better defense and make simple smart plays with the puck, that alone will put us in a stronger position than this year.

 

[Jargon]

My hope for the offseason is that we get better guys than Walman, Ceci, and Liljegren. Probably none of them will be legitimate top pairing guys, but if they can play better defense and make simple smart plays with the puck, that alone will put us in a stronger position than this year.

I’d love that, I guess the question is who?

 

[Le Rosbeef]

Why people were expecting Lavoie or O’Reilly in addition to a first is beyond me.

Because this is Sharks HF and nothing will ever be enough for some.

Without fanfare, Grier has done a lowkey superb job of rebuilding this franchise. If people can't objectively see that, there's an ulterior motive.

Walman for a 1st when we were paid to take him...

 

[Lebanezer]

Was anyone, and I do mean anyone going to point out it’s not Lavoie it’s Savoie?

 

[TheBeard]

Was anyone, and I do mean anyone going to point out it’s not Lavoie it’s Savoie?

I said it once, and didn’t feel like correcting it. Moot anyways.

 

[TimAllen]

Worried it's became more difficult to be a little more competitive next year, but given recent history I'm not going to be too bummed about Grier having his hands on another pick in the late 20s or early 30s. He's earned the benefit of the doubt. Feels like we need to step on the gas at some point though.

 

[weastern bias]

*Department of Player Safety voice*

"This. . . is money laundering"

f***ing unbelievable work by Grier, he's solidified his status as the best in the business at massaging value out of flipping assets, over the last two summers he's turned a combination of 3 cap dumps in Granlund, Ceci and Walman into 2 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd, amazing job, I honestly can't believe how great he did on all these deals

I was obviously wrong

Quoted for posterity

 

[Grinner]

" HEY MIKEY" We like it

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Grier is brilliant

 

[mogambomoroo]

At first I was bit underwhelmed but now that I think about it... Getting 2x 1st round picks in short period of time will boost his chances of getting a better player via trade. Or they can hope Edmonton totally fails in '26, making '27 pick possible for Dupont with a chance that Sharks can actually progress themselves with Edmonton pick doing the tank work.

 

[WATTAGE4451]

Was he a solid #4D in 2023-24? Was he a solid #4D for the first 5 years of his professional career when he couldn't crack a NHL lineup?

You expect me to believe this guy is a solid #4D based on a 50 game sample size that he put together at 29 years old?

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.

 

[STL Shark]

The evidence is just watching him play. Unfortunately the league doesn't release trustworthy data on things like turnovers and allowing opposing forwards to gain the blueline but I'm sure the tracking data would corroborate that Walman is really bad in these areas.

Thanks for admitting you made it up.

 

[STL Shark]

It’s still very possible Ferraro is traded before next season starts. If Ferraro has similar value, being able to retain on him in July to secure that value while trying to bring in an upgrade is a good idea.

Prices are way higher now than in June. Ferraro should still be in play imo if you can land another 1st rounder for him. That will only be a potential option this TDL and I’d rather hold that retention slot for Wennberg’s $5M next TDL than Ferraro. Teams should be able to comfortably fit a $3.2M player onto their cap sheet if they’ve done any semblance of cap balancing throughout the year.