Sharks' Walman To Be Prime Trade Candidate

The San Jose Sharks have started the season poorly once again, but there are some bright spots. The team has started to win some games after another long winless stretch to start the season and have been able to score a decent amount this season.

One of the Sharks' offseason additions, Jake Walman, is having himself a strong start especially. He leads all San Jose defensemen in points with nine in only 13 games. He has one goal, eight assists, and is a +2 on a very negative team. He also has a five point lead on the next closest d-man on the team, Henry Thrun, who has five assists in 16 games.

The 28-year-old Walman is in year two of three of his contract at $3.4 million AAV and is proving that he is a top-4 defenseman. While currently playing on the top pairing, the rebuilding Sharks have options to step up if he is indeed traded at one point. Mario Ferraro and Henry Thrun are talented defenders while the Sharks also have Shakir Mukhamadullin and Luca Cagnoni in the AHL playing well.

San Jose doesn't have any retention spots available this season in case an interested team can't afford his entire contract for this season and next. Fortunately, one frees up after the season, but a third team could always get involved. While it is good to have some experienced players on the team, and San Jose does, Walman's contract will be up before the Sharks take any big step towards playoffs and he will likely hit free agency, being lost to the Sharks for nothing in return.

General manager Mike Grier has not been afraid to make trades and moves to shake up the Sharks and set them up for success. Walman might be next out this season, especially if his strong season continues.

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