Jake Walman
Jake Walman just signed an entry level deal with the St. Louis Blues. So, like Thompson, he gets to finish the 2016-17 season on a tryout contract with the Chicago Wolves.
Could he be the next Kevin Shattenkirk? That’s probably a bit of a stretch to expect a kid just out of college to be the next Blues All-Star. However, nobody knew Shattenkirk was going to be Shattenkirk until he did it.
Walman is not huge at 6’1, 201 lbs, but that’s big enough to not get pushed around. He’s also got some good offensive skills.
He had 53 points in his last 66 collegiate games. In his sophomore season, he scored 13 goals and had 28 points in 27 games. Walman even had 25 points in his third season in which he was coming off shoulder surgery.
Walman is not afraid to stick up for himself and his teammates as well. He had 106 penalty minutes in 107 games at Providence College.
The penalty minutes will need to be tempered at the professional level. It is one thing to be a feisty, hard nosed player, but you can’t put your team in a hole by being in the box too often.
One thing that Walman has going for him is he is already on Doug Armstrong’s radar. Armstrong put Walman’s name ahead of some guys that are currently wearing a Blues jersey when asked who might be able to impact the future defensively.
That could have just been coincidence. Perhaps Armstrong just got done with a scouting meeting, so Walman was on his mind. Or perhaps the organization truly is high on Walman and we might see him wearing the Note rather soon.
St. Louis wants to become a faster, more skilled team to keep up with the Jonses or the Blackhawks as it were. Walman might have the talents to replace Shattenkirk or at least come close to it.
He does not need to get the same production that Shattenkirk did to be a valued member. If anything, he would be a better asset if he had 3/4 the production but was a better defender.
Walman has yet to be a minus-player in his career. If he can keep that going by being a solid defender and chipping in with a couple handfuls of points, he might make a huge jump very soon.