The Los Angeles Kings have signed defenceman Sean Walker to a contract extension. The contract is a four-year deal worth an annual average of $2.65 million. Walker, the 25-year-old right-handed defenceman, had 24 points in 70 games played this past season with the Kings.
Kings Re-Sign Sean Walker
4. MORE. YEARS.https://t.co/vQNl9QLffu
— LA Kings (@LAKings) September 11, 2020
Walker’s Impact
Short Term
So far, Walker has been a reliable, cheap addition to the Kings’ blueline. He’s been a great transition player for them using his strong skating ability. He provides solid offence and defence, as he paced for about 28 points this year while being reliable in his own end. A testament to Walker’s play would be his dominant Corsi of 55 percent. He also had a practically even split between offensive and defensive starts, starting 49.4 percent in the offensive zone and 50.6 percent in the defensive. This is a testament to his two-way game and shows that his coach trusts him in both zones.
Throughout the season, Walker had a few different defence partners. His most common partner was Kurtis MacDermid, playing with him 30 percent of the time. They generally played on the third pairing together, but Walker saw minutes on all three pairings over the course of the season.
Long Term
With Walker’s contract being a four-year deal, he’s here to stay. Right-handed defensemen are possibly the rarest players in hockey, so they can be expensive holes to fill on a roster. Having Walker at a cost-controlled deal is a big benefit to the Kings. Not only do they have a relatively cheap, reliable right-shot defender, but if Walker plays well, his value could certainly rise. The Kings have a few prospects who can play the right-side coming up in the next few years with Sean Durzi, Jordan Spence, Kale Clague, and Jacob Moverare. If any of them are NHL ready and the team feels Walker is taking a roster spot from them, exploring his trade value wouldn’t be a bad idea.
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