October 6, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers announced that Jake Walman agreed to a seven-year, $49 million contract extension on Monday.

Walman was acquired by the Oilers for a conditional 2026 first round pick and Carl Berglund at last season’s trade deadline. He has 91 points in 267 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks, and the Oilers. The 29-year old rearguard put up a career-high 40 points in 65 games last season. Eight of those points and fifteen of those games came with the Oilers. He added ten points in 22 playoff games for the Oilers last spring, including the go-ahead goal in the third period of Game 4 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final.

His addition was considered a steal by many experts around the league. Walman can do it all as a defenceman. He skates well and moves the puck well; but he’s physical, he defends well, and he led the league with 66 blocked shots in the 2025 playoffs. Walman can do all of that on either side of the ice. He’s comfortable playing his off side. That versatility makes him so valuable for the Oilers.

Related: Walman was the smartest use of Kane’s LTIR space

The right side is exactly where he will start this season once he returns to action. The plan is for Walman to skate beside Darnell Nurse on the second pairing this season. They were exceptional together in 105:51 of five-on-five ice time at the end of last season according to Natural Stat Trick. Their expected goals for percentage was 61.09%, and they outscored opponents 8-2. They only played 23:42 together in the playoffs, but they had a 58.12% xGF% as a pairing.

Walman rounded out an impressive top four that includes himself, Nurse, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm when he arrived in Edmonton. Those four players should all eclipse the 30-point plateau this season. All four of them surpassed 30 points last season, although Walman did most of his damage with the Sharks. No other team in the NHL could say that last season. That’s an indication that the Oilers value defencemen that can not only defend, but move the puck up ice quickly and effectively as well. Walman fits that description.

Walman is currently dealing with an undisclosed injury. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch originally thought that Walman would be available for opening night, but apparently there was a setback that could see Walman miss some regular season action.

It’s kind of fitting that Walman signed his extension with the Oilers today. It got overshadowed by the news of the day, which was Connor McDavid signing his own contract extension. Walman and McDavid were teammates with the U-14 Toronto Marlboros, and now they will be teammates with the Oilers for the next two to seven years.

Related: McDavid extension puts the Oilers in a great team-building position