BLOG: Walman living in the moment with Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final

EDMONTON, AB – Jake Walman is living the closest thing to his dream right now.

Whether it's the first pass off the retrieval or eating a blocked shot while defending to prevent a scoring opportunity, or putting pucks on net that lead to goals and going on some incredible offensive rushes, you can see the purpose in everything that Jake Walman is doing right now for the Edmonton Oilers.

He's playing like he's been waiting for this chance all his life.

After being acquired from the Sharks in March before the Trade Deadline, the 29-year-old expressed his long-time desire to play in meaningful games at the most important time of the year, hoping to compete for a Stanley Cup and getting his opportunity when he arrived in Edmonton.

Since joining the Oilers, Walman has been indispensable, solidifying their third defensive pairing alongside John Klingberg and sitting tied for the second-best plus/minus in the playoffs at +11, which is one behind the leading Leon Draisaitl (+12). Walman has added a goal and six assists in 17 games as a two-way force for Edmonton, recording an assist on Draisaitl's opening goal 1:06 into Game 1 on Wednesday night.

“It lived up to the hype for sure,” Walman said of his first game in the Stanley Cup Final. “I got a lot more texts from friends and family for this game than any other. But it’s a great experience. It's cool. I wouldn't want to be doing it with any other group of guys. They've been great to me since I've been here, and I’m looking forward to keeping that going.”

Coming off an impactful performance in Edmonton’s 4-3 overtime victory against the Panthers, the defenceman is enjoying having the opportunity to put forward his best game each night and contribute to another cup run for the Oilers, who are just as grateful to have him on their blueline this year.

“This is where I've wanted to be,” he said. “I feel like I’m meant to be here with this group. I've always wanted to play meaningful games. You don't really know if that's going to come throughout the career, but obviously, I'm really proud to be in this moment right now, and I'm just trying to put my best foot forward and help the group.

“I think looking back in a couple of months, this will be cool. But right now, I'm just trying to ride the wave and live in the moment.”

Walman has become so indispensable that Head Coach Kris Knoblauch is unsure of where the Oilers might be without him after they were without Mattias Ekholm until Game 5 of the Western Conference Final.

The bench boss said he was surprised to find out how willing Walman was to absorb shots to keep opponents from generating scoring chances, exemplified in his willingness to block an Aaron Ekblad shot in the first period of Game 1 that had him feeling the effects.

"I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be here if it weren't for Jake, among others," Knoblauch said. "But Jake's game was tremendous, especially missing Ekholm. We needed guys to step up in his absence. He was one of those guys. And when we got Jake, we wanted a guy who's a puck-moving defenceman, has some agility, gives us a little more scoring, and he gave us all that.

"One thing I didn't know about Jake was how many blocked shots he had. The first game he played with us, he had about five or six. And throughout the playoffs, I know he's had about three or four of those, so he's willing to put his body in front of the puck and make it hard for them to score. He's also physical. He had some big hits last night, so it was a nice surprise.

"We knew we were getting a smart, good-skating defenseman with some offensive flair. He can probably be on the first-unit power play if we need that. But I didn't know about his all-around game. His defensive play has been really good as well, and he's also been used in many situations. Right now, he's been playing a lot with Klingberg, and I think those two have been great together. His role on this run has been very important."