Jake Walman embracing top-pairing role with Moritz Seider
Defenseman is also pitching the importance of eating at Texas Roadhouse
DETROIT — The night before each Detroit Red Wings home game, if he’s able, Jake Walman eats at Texas Roadhouse.
He told media members all about that after practice on Wednesday, it’s part of his routine. He also wants it out there, he wouldn’t mind getting a sponsorship out of the deal.
So to the communications and PR department at Texas Roadhouse, the ball is in your court…
But aside from trying to land a sponsorship gig, it’s important to acknowledge why the 26-year-old defenseman was dealing with a media horde at this point of the season.
At the midpoint of the season, Walman is a fixture on the Red Wings top defensive pair with Moritz Seider. In his past 12 games, he’s averaging just under 20 minutes a game of ice time (all at even strength) and he’s registered five points (three goals, two assists), including a dazzling finish on Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets.
Walman wasn’t expected to be in this role, he was supposed to be a depth guy at best and he has a contract to reflect that with a $1.05 million cap hit.
But Walman has found his game, found an opportunity, and seized it after getting buried behind defensive depth with the St. Louis Blues.
“He didn’t really have a chance, I think we all knew he could do this, but he wasn’t getting that chance in St. Louis,” Oskar Sundqvist said. “It really was whether he got that shot or not.”
Sundqvist and Walman were traded together from St. Louis to Detroit last March, they were soon joined in Detroit by fellow ex-Blues in Ville Husso and David Perron in the offseason.
When that trade happened the Red Wings were in a lame duck limbo space with Jeff Blashill. The team was going to move on from its head coach at the end of the season, as a group, there wasn’t much to play for.
“I kind of noticed a bit of a difference from St. Louis to (Detroit) when I came over,” Walman said. “It was a weird time, but I noticed a bit of a culture change, now this team has a better culture with some of the veteran guys, you can feel it building for something.”
Walman’s individual building is somewhat reflective of the team building in Detroit. It’s a multi-year project, there aren’t any major expectations this season, but both he and the Red Wings have shown the ability to surprise people from time to time.
“Huge step in my career,” Walman said. “Seizing an opportunity and I was fortunate to get an opportunity to (play with Seider) and I was just trying to be ready and needed to mature in my game, so I’m glad it’s working out. But I know I still I have a lot to prove.”
Seider said there are two things that work well about his pairing with Walman, and both center around his feet.
“When he first came in we got along right away, he became a friend,” Seider said. “He was fashionable, he has a good shoe game, we talked about that. When you become friends with a guy, it’s easy to find that chemistry (on the ice).”
Seider was also overly complementary of Walman’s skating.
“I think his first three strides are actually some of the best in the league,” Seider said. “I truly believe that.”
Maybe a bit hyperbolic, but the skating is the reason that Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde paired Seider with Walman initially. Now he’s trying to elevate the pair, and work with Walman to embrace the challenge of carrying actual expectations of getting top matchups.
“For me it’s all confidence,” Walman said. “I think I know what type of player I can be, and I’ve been given the opportunity and I’m kind of digging deep and knowing I can go back more to how I played in college and add some offense to the team, but for me, it’s about the D-zone and I get excited about the challenges of those top matchups and top players.”
And that’s going to be a point of emphasis this week when the Red Wings host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. The Red Wings won on Tuesday, but from the coaches to the players, there was an ugly feeling about how they played at even strength and in the defensive zone.
But there was also a plan. The Red Wings spent Wednesday internally discussing those issues and will have another meeting on Thursday morning, before an optional skate, about how to shore up things against Toronto.
And in between, Walman will go get his pre-game dinner tonight at Texas Roadhouse.
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