There are late bloomers in the NHL who need time to settle into their careers after being drafted, often moving between teams before finding their rhythm in their late 20s. Edmonton Oilers’ D-man Jake Walman appears to be one of them, as the 29-year-old, drafted in 2014, has started making an impact over the past three seasons, including setting a career-high with 40 points last season.

Edmonton acquired him from the San Jose Sharks at last year’s trade deadline — a deal that seemed to come out of nowhere, as few hockey pundits had him pegged as a trade target. He emerged as one of Edmonton’s top D-men in the playoffs, and he impressed so much so that there’s chatter about a contract extension with the club. With a promising season on the horizon, here’s a look at what a successful 2025–26 campaign could look like for the Oilers’ blueliner.

Walman began to hit his stride offensively with the Detroit Red Wings after three seasons struggling to find his footing in St. Louis, steadily climbing from 18 points in 2021–22 to 21 points the following year and then 40 points last season. Additionally, his offence carried into last playoffs, where he was quite impressive in his first full playoff run playing meaningful minutes, posting 10 points (2G, 8A) in 22 games. He was also physical, ranking second among Oilers’ D-men in hits (38), and he blocked shots like his life depended on it, leading the team in that category as well with 66.

If his impressive play last postseason is a preview of what’s to come, I have a hunch he’s going to emerge as one of the most complete, if not the most complete, Oilers’ D-men this upcoming season. Having said that, what does a successful campaign, points-wise, look like for Walman? Let’s take a look at how it could play out.

Because of his puck-moving ability, I’d expect that he’ll be paired primarily with top-six forwards at even strength this upcoming season, as the top two Oilers forwards he skated with at 5v5 last playoffs were Leon Draisaitl (135:16) and Connor McDavid (113:04). I also think of what head coach Kris Knoblauch said about the 29-year-old D-man last playoffs, noting, “The guy can probably be on the first-unit power play if we needed that.”

Of course, nobody is permanently replacing the regular personnel on the first-unit power play, specifically Evan Bouchard, the lone D-man on the unit. That said, I feel Walman would get the first nod on the unit if injuries arise or if the power play isn’t clicking early in games. If they want a different look, they can put the left-shot Walman at the point occasionally, which could increase the Toronto, ON, native’s point totals.

Also, his absolute bomb last playoffs when he beat Sergei Bobrovsky on his off-side in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals lives rent-free in my head. Because of that, it’s easy to imagine him thriving in the same spot on the power play, firing one-timers, especially since NHL Edge data shows his top shot speed last season was 98.90 mph, ranking in the 94th percentile in the NHL.

Considering his upward trend in points over the past few seasons, the calibre of teammates he’s likely to play with this season, and a possible uptick in power-play minutes, reaching 45 points would be a successful outcome.

When the Oilers acquired Walman, many hockey pundits labelled him as a good puck mover and primarily an offensive defenceman, while his defensive abilities received little attention. For example, hockey account @JFresh on X described the deal at the time: “Jake Walman, acquired by EDM, is an offensive defenceman. Has a big point shot and loves to use it. Good puck mover with a nice stretch pass. Can be a bit turnover-prone, not particularly physical.”

On that note, what didn’t get much attention was his outright willingness to sacrifice his body and get in front of pucks, a category in which he led the NHL last playoffs with 66 blocked shots. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch was also impressed, noting his shot-blocking ability during last postseason:

As mentioned, Walman has strong offensive instincts, but he also seems to have that itch to get in front of pucks, just like former Oiler Kris Russell; no inch of his body was off-limits to the pain of frozen rubber. While Walman played the bulk of his games with the San Jose Sharks last season, his 145 regular-season blocks would’ve led the Oilers (Darnell Nurse was first with 136).

Still, just like goal scorers want to score and hitters want to hit, shot blockers are going to want to eat rubber. But there needs to be balance — you don’t want him dropping down for every shot in a blowout, because the Oilers need him as fresh as possible come playoff time. With that in mind, a successful season would have Walman leading the Oilers in blocks while keeping a little extra in the tank for when it matters most in the postseason.

Last playoffs, Walman played most of his 5v5 minutes with veteran D-man John Klingberg (213:55). The pairing posted a 51.83 CF%, 50% GF%, and 53.93 xGF% and all things considered, they were a strong duo who moved the puck effectively, though they appeared to run out of gas against the Florida Panthers. In addition, Bouchard was the D-man Walman played the second-most minutes with last playoffs, and their numbers were strong, posting a 62.29 CF%, a 9–6 goal share, and a 60.61 xGF% in nearly 80 minutes together at 5-on-5 according to Natural Stat Trick.

That said, Bouchard will almost certainly be paired with Mattias Ekholm again — assuming the Swedish defender is healthy enough for the task. Because of that, Walman is likely to slot into the second pairing alongside Darnell Nurse this upcoming season, as Jason Gregor noted in his latest article, ‘Jake Walman will start the season with Darnell Nurse. They will get a long look together. In a small sample size last season, they played well.’

In the sample size Gregor mentioned, Walman played 105:51 minutes with Nurse last regular season. The eye test showed they were effective, and the analytics back it up as well — they posted a 66–39 shot share and an 8–2 goal share. In a smaller playoff sample of 23 minutes playing together, they managed a 12–10 shot share, a 2–1 goal share against tougher competition, and an expected goals rate of 58% xGF, meaning there’s plenty of promise for a Nurse-Walman pairing this upcoming season.

That said, in addition to putting up points and blocking shots being a major success in 2025–26, another big factor will be whether Walman can bring out the best in Nurse. From what we know of Nurse, it’s unlikely he’s going to carry a pairing on his own, but based on what we’ve seen in the past, the right partner can elevate his game and Walman — with his blend of puck-moving, feistiness, and defensive ability — looks like a near-perfect fit for the job.

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