Latest information from top NHL insider makes the Detroit Red Wings' trade of Jake Walman look even worse
The Red Wings stunned their fans during the summer when they traded popular defenseman Jake Walman in return for nothing, and now more information has been revealed that makes the move look even worse.
When the Detroit Red Wings stunned everyone by dumping popular defenseman Jake Walman to the San Jose Sharks (while attaching a 2nd round draft pick to him) in exchange for literally nothing, the assumption was that it had to be the pre-cursor to a major addition on the blue line.
That addition never happened.
To add insult to injury, Walman is playing like a player hellbent on making his former club regret trading him; he leads all Sharks defensemen in scoring and also became the quickest San Jose blue liner in team history to reach 20 assists in a season, besting the previous mark set by Erik Karlsson.
Now, more information is coming from noted NHL insider Frank Seravalli about the trade that casts an even darker cloud over the situation.
According to Seravalli, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman never called around the NHL to see what he could receive in return for Walman.
It wasn't that you just got rid of Walman. It was that you never called around the rest of the League to find out whether or not someone would give you a better price for Walman than the San Jose Sharks did.
There were teams that would've paid less or some would've even considered taking on Walman for free, I'm told, had Steve Yzerman put in the work and made the phone calls. You're paying for someone to take him, not giving him away.
Not only did the Red Wings also not retain Shayne Gostisbehere (who leads the Carolina Hurricanes in point by a defenseman), but their signing of Erik Gustafsson to a 2-year contract has been nothing short of a disaster.
POLL |
DECEMBRE 30 | 216 ANSWERS Latest information from top NHL insider makes the Detroit Red Wings' trade of Jake Walman look even worse Was the Jake Walman trade Steve Yzerman's biggest miscue with the Red Wings as GM so far? |
Yes | 184 | 85.2 % |
No | 11 | 5.1 % |
Undecided | 21 | 9.7 % |
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