The Hockey News’s Jacob Stoller penned a list of six particularly underappreciated NHL players this afternoon, and he suggests that Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman has at least entered the chat in the “underrated” category:
Jake Walman, D, Detroit Red Wings: Jake Walman flies under the radar, but players like him are a coach’s dream. The 27-year-old game is centered around simplicity and efficiency. Walman knows who he is. He knows he’s not Mortiz Seider, and you’ll never find him attempting a crafty, highlight-reel dipsy-doodle.
Ultimately, the beauty of Walman’s game lies in the positive impact he makes that often doesn’t attract the naked, unsuspecting eye. He’s terrific at executing zone exits, finishing 13th among defensemen in carried exits (10) per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 this past season, according to allthreezones.com.
Walman is a cerebral defenseman who knows when to jump into the play, when to stay back, and when to distribute the puck versus skate with it. The 6-foot-2 left-shot rearguard is the perfect partner for Seider, acting as somewhat of a safety blanket for the uberly talented – albeit sometimes reckless – offensive defenseman.
In 63 games last season, Walman averaged 19:43 minutes per game and recorded nine goals and 18 points. He also averaged only 2.28 expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, which ranks him 14th among defensemen that played at least 500 minutes this season, according to naturalstattrick.com.
Continued; I agree that Walman does sometimes cover up for Seider’s more dangerous plays, and fantastic advanced stats aside, Stoller’s best observations here is that Walman knows who he is and who he is not.
Walman plays as a complementary defenseman, and he plays a simple, smart game, knowing when to simply dump the puck out of the zone and when to send a pinpoint pass, when to sneak a slap shot or when to simply walk into a wrister from the point, and when to stay back and make sure that little to nothing happens during his shift (because, as Henrik Zetterberg said, sometimes a shift where nothing happens is a successful shift).
Who is under appreciating walman? He’s been the catalyst for all of his defensive partners playing better. Once I saw him early last session I was hoping they’d move him up lines.
Quite a few people thought he was a bottom-pair defenseman when the Red Wings acquired him.