Utah can revamp their defence core this off-season - that could start by signing Sean Walker
The Utah Hockey Club finds themselves in an interesting situation as the days tick down to the 2024 NHL draft and free agency.
They have no defencemen who are signed heading into the 2024–25 season, which means they have an opportunity to fully rebuild their defence core this off-season and start the process of building from the blue-line forwards.
The first question would be their RFAs; they have Sean Durzi, J.J. Moser, and Juuso Välimäki, all of whom they own the rights. The expectation is that they will all be re-signed, which will leave them three spots on the back end to address.
On the off chance that Välimäki doesn't get qualified and becomes a UFA, it will open another spot to sign a defenseman or allow a prospect to get a shot at the NHL.
Sean Walker joins my list of free-agent defensemen that Utah could be interested in. The list consists of Brandon Montour, Erik Gustafsson, Matt Roy, and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Walker had the best season of his career last season, playing for the Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche. In 81 games, he scored 10 goals and 19 assists, for a total of 29 points.
Walker is a good two-way option for Utah to bring in and help establish a new defensive core. If he is given the opportunity, he could easily score 30–40 points and help on both the power play and penalty kill.
He also has familiarity with Durzi from their time with the Los Angeles Kings. Those two could be partners on the back end this coming season.
In terms of a contract, Walker would likely be expecting a bit of a raise from his $2.65 million cap hit for four years. He could be looking in the neighbourhood of $3.5 million for two seasons.
At 29 years old, he may only want a two-year deal so he can hit free agency one more time in his career and potentially get another big payday.