Oilers’ Jake Walman Will Have Huge Bounce Back in 2026-27

There are some Edmonton Oilers players looking to build off strong 2025-26 campaigns, while others need to rebound for this season after the team lost in the first round. Jake Walman is due for a bounce-back for a variety of reasons, and after some extra rest this offseason, I believe he will deliver this season.

Walman recorded 20 points in 53 games with a minus-17 rating last season for the team. It certainly wasn’t his best work, especially with some of the seasons he has put together in years past. I’ve seen some things from the playoffs to offseason moves that are promising, so it only makes sense that the veteran defender has a big season for Edmonton.

Promising Playoff Run

It was a short-lived playoff season for the Oilers, but there were some great things to take away from Walman’s play in the six-game first-round series. He had four points in the series and was flying around the ice, playing heads-up hockey on both ends of the ice. His aggressive side showed up a little more, and he anchored an Oilers blue line that was struggling mightily.

Edmonton was hit with a couple of injuries and the wrong guys slowing down at the worst time. Walman was one of the few who stepped up and provided stability. He averaged just under 17 minutes during the series, and you can expect to see similar minutes and more this season if this play continues.

Elevated Role With New Blue Line

This season will provide a whole new look for Edmonton’s defence corps as Darnell Nurse was shipped off to the San Jose Sharks and guys like Shakir Mukhamadullin and Ryan Shea have been added. These new guys will likely need some time to get acclimated and figure out their roles, so there will be more reliance on Walman to step up in the meantime.

A new role for Walman also means a new partner. It could eventually be one of the new guys, or it could be someone like Connor Murphy or Ty Emberson. It all depends on the best fit after training camp, but it’ll be a different look without Nurse, who he spent a lot of time with. Walman may be able to push his offensive agenda more with someone like Murphy or Emberson, who is more defence-oriented, but he also needs to play smart as one of the higher-end guys on the blue line.

Walman can certainly play defence, too, as we saw in the postseason. He recorded 90 blocked shots last season, good for sixth on the team. A lot of advanced statistics for him are underwhelming from last season, but if he can balance his play for a whole season, he will be just fine.

Healthy Walman

This is probably the most important thing for Walman, as there have been troubles the past couple of seasons regarding health. He has missed time due to injury four different times over the last two seasons, and he has had issues earlier in his career as well. Starting 2026-27 off with a clean bill of health and having a long summer of rest is a perfect scenario for Walman.

If the defenceman can string together long stretches of games and stay healthy and keep the blue line intact, it should be all downhill for the Oilers. They’ve had minimal issues and played their best hockey when the majority of the team is healthy and their best lineup is in. Here’s to hoping Walman can hold strong for the majority of the season.