Oilers' problems on defense could cost the team in the long-run

Jake was acquired at last year's trade-deadline by the Oilers and made an immediate impact, on a team where Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm were considered the team's top defenseman.

Jake provided significant value to the Oilers in the playoffs, paired with right-handed defenseman John Klingberg, who is no longer with the team.

Now, going into the 2025-26 season, Edmonton has not acquired the right-side defenseman the team needs to provide some balance on their defensive roster. Jake Walman may be the solution to that problem, though we have yet to see an official line-up for the upcoming training-camp.

It will interesting to see how head coach Kris Knoblauch pairs his defensemen. Outside of Edmonton's top pairing of Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm, the remaining three are uncertain.

Darnell Nurse has not played well of late, and where he is slotted is anyone's guess. It may just be with Jake Walman at LD2.

However it plays out, however, Jake Walman is due for a raise on his next contract. And if he plays the way the team expects him to, it could be in the neighbourhood of $4.5M AAV, according to PuckPedia.

If Jake Walman should be the answer to the Oilers' right-side defense deficiency, then his utility to the club increases, as does his value. Oilers' GM Stan Bowman would do well to lock-in Walman at 3 years, at an AAV of around $4M.

Analyst Bob Stauffer had reported that Jake Walman could be looking to sign to an extension by the end of August, but with only days remaining, that seems unlikely.

Once training camp starts in a few weeks, we will have a better understanding of the roster and Stan Bowman's intentions with respect to Walman's contract.