Oilers set to lock up another defenseman to an 8 year contract

With superstar captain Connor McDavid's pending free agency next summer, you'd think that the Edmonton Oilers would be doing everything possible to get him signed long-term.

If I were GM Stan Bowman, I wouldn't sleep this offseason until I got McDavid's ink on a new contract. Locking that man down, at whatever the cost, should be priority 1 - 10 for Bowman.

And yet...

Earlier this week Oilers insider Bob Stauffer reported that the team is negotiating an eight year contract extension for 29 year old defenseman Jake Walman. That's right.... with McDavid unsigned and sitting at his cottage in Muskoka, Bowman feels it necessary to lock up Jake Walman until he's 37 years old.

Alrighty then...

“That is something that the Oilers can do that nobody else can do. They could offer an eight-year contract extension, and we have shorter terms coming to the next CBA, which takes place next summer.”

Stauffer actually pressed Bowman on that option when the two were live on-air together for Stauffer's 'Oilers Now' radio show in Edmonton.

“We’ve had a couple of preliminary conversations. And I think that’s one of the things that will happen over the next probably six weeks… to see if it’s something that lines up well for them and for us. And I’m pretty hopeful that we can do that.”

Bowman continued: “When you identify players that you like, that you think there’s a future for, and they can help your team, not only in the coming year, but in the years beyond that, then I think it makes sense to try to get something done. So that’s going to be something that we do over the next month, month and a half leading into training camp.”

That, to me, sounds like an endorsement for a long-term deal for Walman from Bowman.

Look, I like Jake Walman just fine... but at 29 years old and a career high 40 points, he's not a guy that you lock into a maximum-term contract. You're telling me you can't get Walman under contract for four or five years at a reasonable amount? I'm sure he'd even entertain a three year deal at a fair number.

Something's got to give, right? Right?