After missing the final five games of the regular season due to an undisclosed injury, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Jake Walman will make his return to the lineup Monday when the club begins its opening-round matchup of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings, per team reporter Tony Brar.
Added from the San Jose Sharks ahead of the March 7 NHL trade deadline, Walman has skated in 15 games with the Oilers this season in which he has scored once and added seven assists for eight points coupled with a plus-five rating and six penalty minutes while averaging 21:28 in time on ice per game. Combined with his time with San Jose this season, Walman has totaled 32 points counting six goals and 26 assists in 50 outings.
Originally chosen by the St. Louis Blues in the third round of the 2014 NHL Draft, Walman has totaled 267 career contests between the Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Sharks, and Oilers in which he has collected 32 goals and 59 assists for 91 points. A 29-year-old Toronto native, Walman’s resume also counts a lone game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, coming in 2021 while part of the Blues.
Per PuckPedia, Walman is in the second year of a three-year contract that carries a $3.4-million cap hit.
While Walman will re-enter to the lineup Monday, the Oilers continue to await the return of left winger Evander Kane. The 33-year-old veteran forward missed the entire 2024-25 season due to a knee injury, with his last appearance coming in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, a run in which he put up four goals and four assists for eight points in 20 games before the Oilers fell to the Florida Panthers in a seven-game final.
The Oilers and Kings met four times in the regular season, with Los Angeles coming away with three victories.
