After missing Wednesday’s season-opener with the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers placed Jake Walman on the Injured Reserve on Thursday. The move was made retroactive to yesterday, so the defender will be eligible to return next Wednesday.

Walman, who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract extension with the Oilers earlier this month, is dealing with an undisclosed injury from training camp. The 28-year-old played in only one pre-season match over Edmonton’s eight-game exhibition schedule. There was optimism that Walman would be able to play in the team’s season-opener before suffering a setback in his recovery.

With Walman unavailable, the Oilers played rookie Alec Regula alongside Darnell Nurse on the second defensive pairing on Wednesday against Calgary. Otherwise, it was defenders playing with familiar partners against the Flames, with Evan Bouchard suiting up next to Mattias Ekholm and Brett Kulak beside Ty Emberson.

Moving Walman to the Injured Reserve opens up a spot on Edmonton’s roster for newly signed forward Jack Roslovic, who inked a one-year deal with the team during the Battle of Alberta on Wednesday. There will be tougher roster decisions in the coming weeks when Walman and Mattias Janmark are ready to return to the lineup. The team will also need to eventually make room to activate Zach Hyman off the LTIR in November as well.

The Oilers acquired Walman from the San Jose Sharks ahead of last season’s trade deadline in exchange for Edmonton’s first-round pick in the 2026 and minor-leaguer Carl Berglund. The puck-moving defender scored eight points in 15 regular-season games while logging 21:26 per night on average. In the playoffs, the Toronto native scored 10 points with a plus-nine rating over 22 games.

Edmonton will host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday before heading out on a five-game Eastern Conference road trip with stops against the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators.