Initial Reactions: Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Walman

Just 6 days ago,  Wings GM Steve Yzerman conducted a trade with the St. Louis Blues under the gun of the approaching trade deadline. The deal saw the Red Wings send veteran D-men Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski to the Blues for F Oskar Sundqvist, D Jake Walman, and a 2023 second round pick.

This week, Walman and Sundqvist played their first three contests in the Winged Wheel. The following are the results of those games, and their stats in those contests.

Tuesday — Philadelphia @ Detroit: PHI 3-6 DET

Sundqvist: 1 G, 1 A, +3, 2 hits, 0 gva, 15:42 TOI

Walman: 0 G, 0 A, +1, 0 hits, 2 blocks, 3 gva, 17:19 TOI

Thursday — Detroit @ New York Islanders: Det 2-5 NYI

Sundqvist: 0 G, 0 A, 0 +/-, 1 hit, 0 gva, 13:03 TOI

Walman: 0 G, 0 A, -1, 1 hit, 1 block, 0 gva,16:33 TOI

Saturday — Tampa Bay @ Detroit: TB 2-1 DET

Sundqvist: 1 G, 0 A, +1, 1 hit, 0 gva, 14:49 TOI

Walman: 0 G, 0 A, 0 +/-, 0 hits, 4 blocks, 1 gva, 20:23 TOI

Evaluation

The initial reaction to the trade so far — at least my reaction — is pretty entirely positive. Even without the additions of Sundqvist and Walman, Yzerman got a second round pick for Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski. However, the performances of Jake and Oskar have been an icing on the trade cake, immediately improving the talent level of the squad.

Sundqvist has been performing offensively, putting up three points in three games and scoring a big goal in the third period of the game against Tampa Bay last night — the first of the contest for either team.

Sundqvist is also not afraid to get in the dirty areas or throw around his large frame. Oskar bolsters the bottom six for this year and next at least: he is on the third year of a 4 year/2.75 million AAV contract. He could be a quality top-nine secondary scorer and netfront/corner presence. The acquisition of Sundqvist is good for the culture of the team as well; it seems like all of his teammates have taken a pretty immediate liking to him.

Jake Walman has not been as offensively productive as his newly acquired counterpart, but he has provided something to the lineup that is even more coveted for Detroit: quality defensive play. Walman is not a top pair guy on many teams in the league, but the more and more I watch him play, the more it’s starting to feel like he’s our second best defender. He has been responsible, hasn’t made many mistakes, jumps into the rush/offensive play safely, and has helped improve Detroit’s defense against the rush and in their own zone. With his shot, the offensive production will come. It is most important that he continues bringing his A effort on the back end.

What I’d Like To See Moving Forward

It has been a pretty good start to Jake Walman and Oskar Sundqvist’s Red Wings careers. They’ve slotted into their roles and performed nicely — but what do we want to see from them and where do we want to see them moving forward?

Sundqvist played his first two games on the third line, moving up to the second unit for the game against the Lightning. I think that’s the perfect spot for him in the lineup. He’s not a top line scoring unit guy, but I think he’s a valuable body to have on the ice and deserves second/third line minutes on this year’s squad. He’s gotten some second unit PP time as well, which I’d like to continue to see. He just needs to keep doing what he’s been doing.

Walman has played on the third pair with Gustav Lindstrom in all three of the games he has played for the Wings, but has been getting top-three ice time. He looks very secure with the puck and on his edges, and has a rocket of a slapshot that he loves to unleash — so I say let him unleash it! Give him a few nights on the top pair and on the powerplay and see what he can do. I think if you put him on Moritz Seider’s left side, it will pay dividends at both ends of the ice.

Conclusion

It’s pretty clear that I’ve liked what I’ve seen from the newest Detroit Red Wings players through three games. Yzerman is slowly replacing more and more of the roster with more competent players, either through the draft, free agency, or trades. The acquisition of Walman and Sundqvist from the Blues has been another addition to that pattern. In the most simple terms: Steve Yzerman traded two aging defenseman for a younger, better defenseman, a big-bodied, hard working forward, and a second round pick — if that’s any good.

I’m excited to see what they can do and provide moving forward as they get more games under their belt with their new teammates and coaching staff. I can definitely see the outlook on this trade getting ever better than it already is for Red Wings Nation.