Jake Walman 'heartbroken' after being traded by Steve Yzerman.

The sad reality of the National Hockey League is that it can be a cutthroat and ruthless business when it comes to player transactions, fans can be left devastated when a player decides to sign elsewhere or is traded to a different team and the same can be true for the players as well.

This week, former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman revealed that was exactly the case for him this summer when he learned that he would no longer be a Red Wing following a phone call from general manager Steve Yzerman. Yzerman contacted Walman to inform him that he had been traded to the San Jose Sharks, with Walman admitting that the decision from his now former general manager had left him devastated.

"I was just like shocked, heartbroken,” said Walman as per The Athletic. "Thought that I was going to be there for a long time."

That is a sentiment that I believe was echoed by many fans in the city of Detroit, many of whom had grown very fond of Walman as a player during the 3 seasons he spent as a member of the Red Wings franchise. That love from the fans had been felt by Walman himself, and the 28 year old defenseman admitted that the love from the fans was a love that he reciprocated after they welcomed him to their city and embraced him as one of their own.

"I just thought I’d built such a strong foundation in Detroit, not just with the team but in Detroit," admitted Walman. "My heart was there, you know? I wanted to bring that success and passion to Detroit. It was my first time, like I’ve said to you before, that I felt like I was in a place that loved me, and I loved that place. It was my first time feeling comfortable in a city. That was it, kind of just over in a flash, like that."

One factor that likely made the move so tough to swallow, for both Walman and his fans in Detroit, was the fact that the Red Wings effectively gave him up for nothing. Yzerman sent both Walman and a second round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft to the Sharks in return for future considerations. Even more bizarrely, Yzerman made the decision to do so fresh off the heels of signing Walman to a 3 year deal with an average annual value and salary cap hit of $3.4 million per season.

Although Walman is a professional and holds no ill will towards his former team, or the man who traded him, he does admit that it is a decision that he may never truly get over. That is a sentiment that I believe, again, will be one echoed by the fans in Detroit.

"Obviously it stings a bit," Walman said. "It always will."