Edmonton Oilers take Walman off IR and here is when he could make season debut
The Edmonton Oilers may be getting back a major piece of their blueline soon.
Jake Walman has not been able to play any of the team’s first six games of the season due to injury, but a return looks imminent. The Oilers activated the 29-year-old off the injured reserve on Monday morning, indicating that he is close to getting back into game action.
With the team not slated to skate until Tuesday morning, there has been no confirmation on when Walman will officially draw back into the lineup, but the timing of the transaction gives us a good idea.
It’s expected that Walman will make his season debut on Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators.
The #Oilers have activated defenceman Jake Walman from injured reserve. pic.twitter.com/pLY6G0ZYOI
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 20, 2025
Getting Walman back into the lineup will be a big boost to the team’s defensive group, and will require some shuffling around. With Alec Regula still injured, Troy Stecher has been taking reps on Edmonton’s second pair alongside Darnell Nurse.
With the return of Walman, it’s likely that Stecher will come out of the lineup to make some room. In preseason, it was confirmed that the Oilers were going to try out a second pair of Nurse and Walman. Despite being left-handed, the former San Jose Sharks defenceman is comfortable playing on his off-side.
Nurse has gotten off to another shaky start this season, but past results with Walman have been encouraging. The two played a total of 105 minutes at five-on-five last season where they posted a 61.09 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) and outscored the opposition by an 8-2 margin, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The two also complement eachother well with Nurse being a more stay-at-home kind of defender compared to Walman’s puck-moving acumen. Having these two focus on their strengths should lead to smoother transitions up the ice.
With Walman coming off the IR, Oilers fans should keep an eye on forward Kasperi Kapanen possibly being added to it after leaving Sunday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings with an apparant injury.
We will have to see what head coach Kris Knoblauch says on Tuesday about Walman’s status and timeline.