The Detroit Red Wings needed to relinquish a second-round pick to get rid of Jake Walman last summer. The San Jose Sharks received a first-round pick in exchange for Walman on Thursday.
The Sharks sent Walman, a left-shooting defenseman, to the Edmonton Oilers for a conditional first-round pick (either in 2026 or 2027).
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, in a surprise move, dealt Walman to San Jose on June 25 and needed to attach a second-round pick to get the Sharks to assume the full value of his remaining contract, two years at $3.4 million per season.
The Red Wings needed the cap space heading into free agency and to sign franchise cornerstones Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond to long-term contracts. Yzerman said at the time he had no choice but to include the pick, which he obtained from Nashville in a swap of prospects Andrew Gibson and Jesse Kiiskinen, in order to shed all of Walman’s contract.
“It’s really difficult to move money right now,” Yzerman said at the 2024 draft. “And I’ve tried. Honestly, I’ve tried. We needed to move at least one contract to do some of the things we got to do. Unfortunately, that was the price to do it.”
Walman, 29, had six goals and a career-high 32 points in 50 games with the Sharks.
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