A Golden Opportunity for the Vancouver Canucks to Enhance Their Defense Is On the Table
After it had been been made public that Patrik Allvin and the Vancouver Canucks are looking to upgrade their blue line, a new report suggests that San Jose Sharks defenseman, Jake Walman could be the right fit for the Canucks.
With a fairly thin defenseman market this season, there are quite a few players that are looking for larger opportunities to showcase their talents if given a bigger role on a team, and Walman could get that if he comes to the Canucks.
It is not a surprise that the Canucks are fairly limited in their ability to move the puck efficiently. Outside of Erik Brannstrom and Quinn Hughes, their blue line is filled with more, "Stay at home" style d-men, and Patrik Allvin is looking for an upgrade.
Why Jake Walman Makes Sense for the Vancouver Canucks to Trade For
The 28-year-old puck mover is off to a real strong start to the 2024-2025 campaign, where in 13 games, he has 1 goal and 8 assists for 9 points. This puts him on pace for .7 point per game average, lugging 22 minutes a game.
Additionally, he is not just a one trick pony, his defense has been on full display as well this season, where the Sharks are outscoring their opponents 8-7 whenever he is one the ice at five-on-five. Comparatively they are being outscored 25-9 when he is on the bench.
This begs the question, why would the Sharks trade Walman? Well, it seems their is a rift between him and management. According to The Hockey News writer Max Miller, Walman has been healthys cratched on more than one occasion, even though the team performs a lot better when he is on the ice. This could mean they'd be open to trading him sooner rather than later, as the Sharks are clearly in a rebuild and want to build up assets.
If unable to add names like Rasmus Andersson, Ivan Provorov, or Bowen Byram, Walman could be an underrated puck moving d-man that can make the Canucks a whole lot better.
