Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings D Man Jake Walman Wants $1.7 Million

Published

2 years ago

August 9, 2022

Nate Brown

It appears the Detroit Red Wings and restricted free agent Jake Walman disagree on a couple things:

Arbitration filings for Jake Walman (DET): Team is at $775K/$225 (two-way)…player ask is a one-way at $1.7M

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 9, 2022

It’s already a crowded blue line that doesn’t already factor in rookies who could push for spots. The Red Wings are clearly anticipating competition, pushing for a two-way contract for Jake Walman. It’s the type of contract, rather than the price, that stands out.

A glance at Cap Friendly provides a glimpse into that crowded blue line:

Screenshot courtesy of CapFriendly

Even without the contract finalized, Detroit has eight defenseman already on the books. Pysyk is out due to injury so that narrows it to seven, but anyone following closely sees some creative finagling on the horizon.

Robert Hagg will provide depth if he doesn’t end up on the roster, which is where Kampfer likely fits, too. Oesterle will likely be the 7th defenseman.

Both Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson bring some cognitive dissonance to all of it, too.

They could very well earn a spot on the final roster, especially after Yzerman spoke highly of Edvinsson when asked just a few weeks ago.

“He looks very strong. His skating his excellent. We’re optimistic,” Yzerman said. “We’ll give him an opportunity. If he’s ready to play and play a regular role that would be great for us.”

“We’ll just kind of let the whole thing play itself out, but the World Juniors will be a great stepping stone coming into training camp to try to make an impression and earn a spot on the team.”

While the arbitration numbers may have solved a little more of the mystery in terms of contract figures, it may have created some more interesting questions as prospect and training camp open soon.