Jake Walman is set up for a very different season in Edmonton, and the Oilers need it to be a good one.
After a 2025-26 campaign that left plenty to be desired, the veteran defenseman enters 2026-27 with a chance to reset. He put up 20 points in 53 games and finished with a minus-17 rating, numbers that fell well short of what he’s shown in previous seasons. But there were signs in the playoffs and in the offseason that point to a rebound being on the table.
Walman’s postseason was brief, but it stood out. In Edmonton’s six-game first-round series, he chipped in four points and looked engaged on both sides of the puck.
He skated well, played with more urgency, and brought a steadier presence to a blue line that was under real pressure. With injuries piling up and the wrong players fading at the wrong time, Walman was one of the few Oilers who managed to hold things together.
He averaged just under 17 minutes in the series, and that kind of workload could be coming again if his play carries over.
The bigger change for him comes with the makeup of Edmonton’s defense. Darnell Nurse is gone, having been shipped to the San Jose Sharks, and Shakir Mukhamadullin and Ryan Shea are in the mix now. That means the Oilers’ back end is going to look different, and there’s a good chance Walman will be asked to shoulder more responsibility while the new pieces settle in.
That also leaves his partner situation wide open. He could wind up alongside one of the newcomers, or he could end up with Connor Murphy or Ty Emberson.
Training camp will sort that out, but the pairing won’t look the same without Nurse, who Walman spent plenty of time with. A defense-first partner like Murphy or Emberson could give Walman a little more room to push the puck, though he’ll still need to keep his game in check as one of the more important defenders on the roster.
There is real value in what he already showed on the defensive side. Walman blocked 90 shots last season, which ranked sixth on the team. Some of the deeper numbers from his year were underwhelming, but the path to a better season is pretty clear: balance out the game, stay within himself, and play a full schedule.
Health may be the biggest key of all. Over the last two seasons, Walman has missed time with injuries four different times, and he’s dealt with health issues earlier in his career too. That makes a clean start to 2026-27, along with a full summer of rest, especially important.
If Walman can stay on the ice and keep Edmonton’s blue line intact, the Oilers should be in a much better spot. They’ve generally looked their best when the lineup is healthy and settled. For Walman, that makes this a prime opportunity to turn last season around.
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Jeff ONeill has made clear he is not sold on the idea that Babcock will be able to apply the same hard-nosed discipline to McDavid or Draisaitl that he once expected from other marquee names. Still, both players have already spoken positively about their new coach, which only adds another layer to the intrigue. For the Oilers, the real test is whether that public respect turns into the kind of accountability that holds up when the season starts to bite. [Read more 🡒]