Oilers likely to move defenseman Jake Walman to LTIR

The Edmonton Oilers have been dealing with a tight salary cap situation all season long, primarily using LTIR in order to keep cap-compliant.  At the moment, they have two forwards on there in Kasperi Kapanen and Noah Philp, but even with that, they are only able to afford to carry a minimum-sized roster of 12 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies.

That could soon be changing, however.  Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 indicates (X link) that the Oilers will likely move defenseman Jake Walman to LTIR over the next couple of days.  In doing so, they’ll add his $3.4M AAV to their LTIR pool, which will be enough to call up an extra forward and defenseman as they get set to embark on a five-game road trip that begins on Saturday in Toronto.

Walman is in his first full season with Edmonton after being acquired from San Jose at the trade deadline back in March.  He made a big impact after joining the team, and that has carried over to this season, at least when he’s healthy enough to be in the lineup.  Through 17 games, Walman has three goals and seven assists, along with 31 blocked shots, while averaging a little over 20 minutes a night of playing time.  His early performance with the Oilers earned him a seven-year, $49M extension back in October.

Walman missed five games with an undisclosed injury earlier in the season and has been out with another undisclosed injury since leaving Edmonton’s game on November 20th.  If the Oilers do indeed move Walman to LTIR, they will be able to backdate the placement to that time with the 10-game, 24-day requirements being calculated from there.  Considering he’s already missed seven games, this is a safe procedural move that would make a lot of sense for the Oilers to make.