Jeremy Laura: Ansar Khan sheds light on Walman trade

This sheds no light for me. Anyone could see that Walman's play declined and his usage diminished as the season wore on. Thanks Ansar.

But he is still a serviceable NHL d-man that could step in as a 4-5 guy on quite a number of teams. He's 28. He has size. He's put up a bit of offense. His contract was not absurd in any way. That is not a player with negative value, and certainly not one that requires a 2nd round pick as a sweetener.

I have zero issues with Yzerman moving Walman out. That's fine. It helps address a logjam. It clears some cap space. He isn't a long-term solution here. The issue is flushing a 2nd round pick down the toilet. If Ken Holland did this there would ranting and raving. But the media is busy spinning this and rationalizing this, because, well, it's Yzerman.

Walman falling out of favor with the coaching staff (if true, which I don't doubt) is a fine enough explanation of why he was traded, but does not at all explain why the team felt packaging him with a second round pick for literally nothing in return was defensible asset management.

This sheds no light for me. Anyone could see that Walman's play declined and his usage diminished as the season wore on. Thanks Ansar.

But he is still a serviceable NHL d-man that could step in as a 4-5 guy on quite a number of teams. He's 28. He has size. He's put up a bit of offense. His contract was not absurd in any way. That is not a player with negative value, and certainly not one that requires a 2nd round pick as a sweetener.

I have zero issues with Yzerman moving Walman out. That's fine. It helps address a logjam. It clears some cap space. He isn't a long-term solution here. The issue is flushing a 2nd round pick down the toilet. If Ken Holland did this there would ranting and raving. But the media is busy spinning this and rationalizing this, because, well, it's Yzerman.
- Cooleus

The media was pretty happy to make excuses for Holland too.

Walman falling out of favor with the coaching staff (if true, which I don't doubt) is a fine enough explanation of why he was traded, but does not at all explain why the team felt packaging him with a second round pick for literally nothing in return was defensible asset management.
- Sven22

Tinfoil hat mode: look for a NYR trade that seems to heavily favor DET. 3 way deal pieced apart to get around Goodrows NTC

To SJ: Goodrow, Walman, 2nd

To DET: Trouba?

To NYR: Holl?

The media was pretty happy to make excuses for Holland too.
- Sven22

Facts. They banned me from commenting on mlive articles back in the days.

Things that might justify this trade in retrospect for me:

- We learn that Walman is "DeKeyser injured" -- able to be medically cleared to play, but unable to play at or near the level he has previously established. This would be in line with cryptic statements made at the end of the year ("he's available but not himself"), although it seems to me like if this were true it probably would have been leaked at some point.

- Those "future considerations" from San Jose turn out to be something substantial and not just, like, "we'll put in a waiver claim on Holl for ya" or "we'll swap the 14th and 15th picks."

Things that would not justify the trade in retrospect:

- Yzerman uses the cap space to make some amazing offseason acquisitions. Like, that'd be great, but it doesn't justify getting fleeced on the cap clearing move beforehand if there were other, better ways to clear the cap that didn't involve flushing away additional assets unnecessarily.

So Walman falls out of favor just like Kostin with this coach yet he loves playing that usless crap Petry...maybe Yzerman should get rid of the coach and whoever told him signing Chiarot, Copp, Holl and trading for Petry was a good idea.

All i have to say is Yzerman better have some great moves planned for this weekend and the start of the free agency period or else i'm going to start to lean in the way of getting rid of him too.

Facts. They banned me from commenting on mlive articles back in the days.
- Feds91Stammer

Yes I was banned from mlive too. I would say the media were apologists for Holland for many years, but that gradually changed and by the end he was heavily questioned. But nobody dares question Yzerman.

"Steve, we understand the rationale to move Walman, but can you explain why you needed to attach a 2nd round pick?"

"Well that's the price to pay. Don't you think I tried to just give him away? Blah, blah"

"OK, but not long ago you took on two years of Jeff Petry, who seems like a lesser player. You didn't receive a 2nd round pick to take on Petry. You didn't receive a 3rd or 4th, or any sweetener at all. In fact, you traded away Lindstrom (who was an early 2nd round pick) PLUS a 4th round pick. So if you needed to use draft capital to acquire Petry, why would you need to use draft capital to dispose of Walman?"

But the media is too gutless to ask hard questions. Has anyone asked what our pro scouts saw in Holl? Have you reviewed the pro scouting department? DId anyone ask why we took on Yamamoto, bought him out, with dead cap space, and we didn't get any draft picks as a sweetener. Our sweetener was Klim Kostin, who we overpaid, and then gave him away 33 games later. Can someone ask Yzerman if he feels this was a helpful trade?

Hate to see Wally go. Loved his booming shot. But, we have a ton of D coming up. I’m sure this is a way to get more $$ to sign Ghost. He is going to command more $$. I love seeing Ghost move on the blue line. Looked like a real team guy too.

We need to make room for Simon and Albert next year. I’m looking forward to seeing their growth.

Seravelli just said today some GMs were not aware Walman was available for such a nice sweetener. Also he believes Yzerman is looking into Gibson. That doesn't sound like a great plan to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6AmFTtPPyU&t=737s

Seravelli just said today some GMs were not aware Walman was available for such a nice sweetener. Also he believes Yzerman is looking into Gibson. That doesn't sound like a great plan to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6AmFTtPPyU&t=737s
- jfkst1

Exactly. Utah currently has zero NHL d-men signed. They have 3 RFAs that they likely bring back. But still need 4 more bodies. Are you telling me they wouldn't have taken Walman with a 3rd, instead of a 2nd? It's asinine. Do we go out and sign UFAs like Brendan Smith, Colin Miller, and TJ Brodie to fill out our roster...or take Jake Walman for free and get a 3rd round pick for our troubles. It's a no brainer. You didn't need to waste a 2nd and could have pretty easily found teams that would take a far lesser sweetener. Walman + 4th. Walman +6th. Ridiculous.

The more I think about it the "fall out of favor" explanation bugs me too.

Like, I get that it happens. But they traded for him, signed him to an extension, played him 20 minutes a night all season, 80% of his even strength minutes and 90% of his shorthanded minutes were with Seider, was the No. 2 option in OT after Seider.

I get that this is more a reflection of the crap options the Wings had to work with than Walman being a legit top pair guy. But how do you do that quick of a 180 on a guy?

If the answer is injury that would be more understandable. It would also provide some explanation for why other GMs (allegedly) felt blindsided by the move. If Walman is damaged goods Yzerman would have to disclose that to any GM he talks to. Talk to multiple GMs and it becomes virtually certain that details leak (which would further depress Walman's value).

The other possibilities are less fun to contemplate. There is a part of me that has always kinda wondered if Yzerman has a, shall we say, vindictive side. Maybe Walman said or did something that pissed him off? Maybe he didn't fit the "Red Wing way" in Yzerman's eyes for some off-ice reason?

That's all complete speculation on my part and it could be completely wrong. On the other hand, in the absence of any real, legitimate explanations, speculation runs rampant. Like, is this because Yzerman thinks Walman spends too much time playing video games? Probably not, but the fact that it's even plausible says a lot about how nonsensical this deal is on the surface.

The more I think about it the "fall out of favor" explanation bugs me too.

Like, I get that it happens. But they traded for him, signed him to an extension, played him 20 minutes a night all season, 80% of his even strength minutes and 90% of his shorthanded minutes were with Seider, was the No. 2 option in OT after Seider.

I get that this is more a reflection of the crap options the Wings had to work with than Walman being a legit top pair guy. But how do you do that quick of a 180 on a guy?

If the answer is injury that would be more understandable. It would also provide some explanation for why other GMs (allegedly) felt blindsided by the move. If Walman is damaged goods Yzerman would have to disclose that to any GM he talks to. Talk to multiple GMs and it becomes virtually certain that details leak (which would further depress Walman's value).

The other possibilities are less fun to contemplate. There is a part of me that has always kinda wondered if Yzerman has a, shall we say, vindictive side. Maybe Walman said or did something that pissed him off? Maybe he didn't fit the "Red Wing way" in Yzerman's eyes for some off-ice reason?

That's all complete speculation on my part and it could be completely wrong. On the other hand, in the absence of any real, legitimate explanations, speculation runs rampant. Like, is this because Yzerman thinks Walman spends too much time playing video games? Probably not, but the fact that it's even plausible says a lot about how nonsensical this deal is on the surface.
- Sven22

He plays too much Fortnite. Prepare to be disappointed when Yzerman gets Gibson from Anaheim.

He plays too much Fortnite. Prepare to be disappointed when Yzerman gets Gibson from Anaheim.
- Feds91Stammer

I am consistently blown away by how often goalies that put together a couple of good-to-great seasons early in their careers just keep getting jobs forever. Goalie reputations are shockingly sticky for some reason despite all evidence to the contrary.

I mean, Cam Ward turned a great playoff run in his rookie season into a 14-year NHL career. Even though he stunk for almost all of them.

He plays too much Fortnite. Prepare to be disappointed when Yzerman gets Gibson from Anaheim.
- Feds91Stammer

I wasn’t thrilled to see that headline. Apparently there are teams that banned fortnite on road trips because guys were staying up way too late playing.

Yeah, tiime to get rid of Yzerman. He doesn't know diddly squat about running a team. Anybody could do it, even know it all fans. After all, some of them must have secretly been a GM of a pro hockey team and have this vast experience of making trades and signing FA's.

https://x.com/LGRWProspec...tatus/1806008422346764739

Y looking at Gibson, Trouba, and Chabot



"Staios said Chabot “hasn’t been talked about once” as a trade candidate internally."

Yzerman wouldn’t give up a second if it wasn’t necessary for the bigger picture. No GM bats a perfect batting average. I’m still hoping for Kane and Ghost.

I’ve read several reports that Yzerman and the front office have been looking to replace Walman for quite a while.
It’s been leaked that they found his post-goal performances a bit one dimensional, and are working on a deal with a younger D man with more celly dance upside.

Yeah, tiime to get rid of Yzerman. He doesn't know diddly squat about running a team. Anybody could do it, even know it all fans. After all, some of them must have secretly been a GM of a pro hockey team and have this vast experience of making trades and signing FA's.
- Wingsfan61

To be fair. Everyone on this site has won the same amount of cups as a GM as Yzerman. Let’s not act like he’s above criticism.

I’ve read several reports that Yzerman and the front office have been looking to replace Walman for quite a while.
It’s been leaked that they found his post-goal performances a bit one dimensional, and are working on a deal with a younger D man with more celly dance upside.
- danimal6777

I heard they are looking for a D man that plays roller coaster tycoon instead of Fortnite.

Kenny 2.0

This sheds no light for me. Anyone could see that Walman's play declined and his usage diminished as the season wore on. Thanks Ansar.

But he is still a serviceable NHL d-man that could step in as a 4-5 guy on quite a number of teams. He's 28. He has size. He's put up a bit of offense. His contract was not absurd in any way. That is not a player with negative value, and certainly not one that requires a 2nd round pick as a sweetener.

I have zero issues with Yzerman moving Walman out. That's fine. It helps address a logjam. It clears some cap space. He isn't a long-term solution here. The issue is flushing a 2nd round pick down the toilet. If Ken Holland did this there would ranting and raving. But the media is busy spinning this and rationalizing this, because, well, it's Yzerman.
- Cooleus

Well said. This move sure is baffling.

Yzerman loses his mind in the summer. He has no problem signing Holl for 3 years and now giving up a second to trade Walman. WTF is he smoking.

The drafting has not improved since the Kenny years. It hasn't beyond the second round at least.

The defense remains a mess as it has for 5 years. It's Seider and a bunch of pylons.

The goaltending still lacks a difference maker. It's been a revolving door ever since Yzerman got here.

So far, I have to say Yzerman has been a massive disappointment as GM..