Insider reveals the poor decision making behind Detroit's trade of Jake Walman

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Tom Banks
July 14, 2024 (3:21 PM)

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The Detroit Red Wings shipped out Jake Walman early in the off-season, and now it's been revealed that Steve Yzerman botched it in a big way.

For years now, Steve Yzerman has been considered one of the NHL's best General Managers, but during his tenure with Detroit, that respect has dwindled as he's made some bad moves during the teams rebuild. One of those bad moves came this off-season when the team traded Jake Walman to San Jose for... absolutely nothing.

TRADE 🚨

#SJSharks acquire defenseman Jake Walman and a second-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft from the Red Wings.

Sure, the team may have moved on from a hefty contract, but to add a second-round pick to him to do so was highly criticized at the time, and now NHL Insider Frank Seravalli has given further details on why this was considered a terrible move from Yzerman.

"I can tell you that teams just make deals sometimes, without consulting everyone else," said Seravalli.

"The Jake Walman trade," said Seravalli. "There were teams that were in position to take on a bad contract that were shocked that a second round pick got attached to the Jake Walman deal. Sometimes our assumptions are incorrect that the entire league has been canvassed."

According to Seravalli, the Red Wings GM didn't do their due dilligence, and while they may not have got a significant asset in return, they may have been able to get away with sending much less than a valuable pick. Ultimately, the 'Yzerplan' simply hasn't gone the way that anyone would have expected in Detroit, and after adding Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko in free agency, it's now or never for the Red Wings to end their playoff drought.

Source: Hockey Feed
Steve Yzerman botched Jake Walman trade.