With less than a month until the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline, we’ve got you covered at Daily Faceoff, with at least one trade-related story every day until Deadline Day.
Today we continue our player profile series with Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Sean Walker, who is ranked seventh on our Trade Targets list.
2024 Trade Deadline Countdown: 31 Days
SEAN WALKER
Right Defense, Philadelphia Flyers.
Shoot: Right
Age: 29
Height: 5 feet 11 inches. Weight: 196 pounds.
Cap Hit: $2.65 million.
Term: Pending. UFA 2023-24 Stats: 51 games, 5 goals, 13 assists, 18 points, 19:33. TOI
Career stats: 6th season (Los Angeles, Philadelphia), 283 games played, 21 goals, 64 assists, 85 points.
Best Year: This year, on course to achieve new career highs in goals, assists, points, hits, shots, blocks, plus/minus.
Playoffs: one appearance, no rounds won, two games played, no points.
Archetype and Ideal Role
Mobile Defenseman, Second/Third Pair.
Walker, who was released by the Los Angeles Kings as a salary budget casualty eight months ago, has emerged as a valuable depth addition ahead of the deadline. He has been a pleasant surprise for the Flyers in almost every manner, and they hope to cash in immediately. Walker can kill penalties and maybe contribute to a second power play unit, but he will be a good match for a team that values skating.
Scouting Report
One scout compared Walker to Dan Boyle, but without the offensive potential. This is an intriguing comparison. They’re the same size. Walker, like Boyle, played four years of college hockey in Ohio before joining the Kings in 2017 as an undrafted free agent from Bowling Green.
However, the Boyle-Walker analogy is particularly noteworthy due to their smooth skating. On NHL EDGE puck and player monitoring, Walker is in the 75th percentile or higher in all skating metrics, both backwards and forwards. His top skate speed of 23.04 mph ranks in the 90th percentile.
Any team that teaches its defensemen to skate forwards and “surf” across the ice will adore Walker. He excels at transferring his weight when skating backwards and covers 85 feet (the width of the ice) with ease when skating east and west.
Walker analyzes openings in the offensive zone and creeps in toward the slot, where he correctly anticipates loose pucks on the weak side, which may either produce scoring opportunities or, more importantly, keep zone time alive. Along the blueline, he doesn’t complicate plays and can sift pucks through holes and into the net.
That skating also enables him to join the rush. Walker and Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin are tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals scored by defensemen this season. Walker scored four of his five goals on the rush. He jumps and anticipates openings, and at times throttles his speed to remain out of sight, demonstrating poise.
Walker’s shot is underestimated, as he enjoys putting floaters on net for tips and deflections.
Buyer Beware
Aside from his skating, there isn’t one aspect of Walker’s game that sticks out – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A defensemen may sometimes get away with staying out of sight and mind.
Walker’s gap management is one area where he consistently suffers, which is surprising given his strength. One of the reasons he doesn’t kill many plays is the greater space he enables opposing forwards to cross, either in the neutral zone or immediately after crossing the blueline. Part of that could be the Flyers’ 1-2-2 system, as implemented by John Tortorella.
Walker, like many strong skaters, has a tendency to stray during plays. He is unaware of the situation and believes he can adjust. That occasionally gets him into problems, allowing opposing forwards to gain more net presence. However, if Walker skates forward further (and “surfs”) or uses a more aggressive strategy in the neutral zone, part of this may be avoided.
Walker isn’t particularly athletic. He relies on his skating for positioning, which places him in the center of the pack for creating loose pucks with stick checks.
Keep in mind that Walker has almost no Stanley Cup playoff experience. He only appeared in two games with the Kings last spring, and he was a healthy scratch for four.
