Detroit Red Wings sign Jake Walman to one-year contract

The Detroit Red Wings have signed defenseman Jake Walman to a one-year, $1.05 million contract.

Walman was a restricted free agent after finishing a two-year contract with a $725,000 cap hit, a deal he originally signed with the St. Louis Blues. He had an arbitration hearing scheduled on August 11th, but the two parties have managed to reach an agreement beforehand. With this deal done, there are no more arbitration cases left for the summer.

Walman spent parts of the season with both the Blues and the Red Wings, with three goals, seven assists, and 10 points in 51 games, including four assists in 19 games with the Red Wings. Originally a third round pick of the Blues, Walman was dealt to Detroit at the 2022 trade deadline along with Oskar Sundqvist and a 2023 second round pick as part of the return for defenseman Nick Leddy.

Walman has had solid results when it comes to driving play, particularly on the offensive side of the puck, although that hasn’t translated to any of his point totals right now. His defense isn’t quite as good, and as a result, he has more middling underlying numbers with a 50.81% shot attempt share and 48.88% expected goal share at even strength in the past three seasons.

With this signing, the only player the Red Wings have to worry about is Filip Zadina, who remains a restricted free agent at the moment. The team currently has more than $10 million in cap space, so they should have no problem fitting Zadina into that picture.

It’s been a busy offseason for Detroit, as they made plenty of moves in free agency. They brought in Andrew Copp, David Perron, and Dominik Kubalik up front, Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, and Mark Pysyk on the back end, and also made a deal for goaltender Ville Husso’s rights at the draft, signing him to a three year contract with a $4.75 million cap hit.