2024-2025 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread.

[Linkens Mastery]

So who are our top RFA’s we need to worry about the next couple years? Neighbours? Lol

Doubt Neighbours or Hofer makes it to RFA, they will be extended beforehand

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Retaliation from Edmonton seems highly unlikely as they're going to be expending all of their managerial muscle to field a competitive team once they hand out record deals to McDavid and Draisaitl.

Good point, I keep forgetting those two are up soon.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Armstrong retirement tour is just starting

Armstrong in 2026:

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

This feels like Holloway sheet was largely just an added pressure point on Oil. Broberg I think is primary target, and Holloway for a 3rd is cherry on top if we get him. Going to be tough for Oils to match both without it really hurting them.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

These offers were made just to f*** with Holland and the Oilers. I think the Blues actually want Broberg, but Holloway was also available so they said "f*** it start a riot"

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Let's pretend Broberg is in the picture for this season. What are the D-pairings on opening night?

Leddy-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Suter-Kessel?

 

[Louie the Blue]

I mean I respect the balls it took to make these moves, but 4.5 per for Broberg is crazy.

It’s not like the Blues are going to be in a cap constraint soon and depending on the severity of Krug’s injury they may have more cap available in the next 2 seasons.

I think Broberg is who Armstrong is after, like others have said, and the Holloway offer sheet is to put added pressure on trying to keep Broberg.

Either way, Armstrong just put his balls on the table.

 

[Drubilly]

This feels like Holloway sheet was largely just an added pressure point on Oil. Broberg I think is primary target, and Holloway for a 3rd is cherry on top if we get him. Going to be tough for Oils to match both without it really hurting them.

Yes. I thought to myself "is Holloway really necessary? Oh! Is this a move to disguise Army's true intentions of landing Broberg and adding extra pressure on Bowman?" Escobar moves... I diggit

 

[greybush314]

I don't think there is anything that Edmonton can do to match either of these without severely crippling the team. They cannot trade any forwards due to NMC but they could move Ekholm to keep Broberg. The Blues will get at least one of these two players and likely both.

 

[Majorityof1]

These offers were made just to f*** with Holland and the Oilers. I think the Blues actually want Broberg, but Holloway was also available so they said "f*** it start a riot"

Holloway may be the better player. He plays the style most fans want to go back to. Never cheats, backchecks hard, good defensive stick, smart hits, and good with possession. He has playmaker skills that haven't developed at NHL level and might nit but he is 22. Currently a real good bottom 6, could be a good middle 6. Think Jordan Staal as a comparable of what he could be

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Gotta think no way do we do this if Holland was still there. This is kind of calculated move you don’t do to friends. This is cold. This is a welcome back, a$$hole to Bowman. I love it.

Potential that Chiarelli wants a public "go f*** yourself" to his old employer and Armstrong thinks the move could lead to both popping off in an elevated role.

 

[Majorityof1]

It’s not like the Blues are going to be in a cap constraint soon and depending on the severity of Krug’s injury they may have more cap available in the next 2 seasons.

I think Broberg is who Armstrong is after, like others have said, and the Holloway offer sheet is to put added pressure on trying to keep Broberg.

Either way, Armstrong just put his balls on the table.

Yes. I thought to myself "is Holloway really necessary? Oh! Is this a move to disguise Army's true intentions of landing Broberg and adding extra pressure on Bowman?" Escobar moves... I diggit

Y'all need to watch Hollaway more. Very Bluuesey player. Very 2019 cup identity player. I doubt he was a throw in

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I forgot Bowman was the new GM of Edmonton, I love these deals even more.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Y'all need to watch Hollaway more. Very Bluuesey player. Very 2019 cup identity player. I doubt he was a throw in

He's a nice to have and I doubt Armstrong would have offered him if he wasn't comfortable paying him.

But of the 2, Broberg is more valuable.

 

[BlueDream]

Yeah I like Holloway a good amount. I legitimately want him.

But I’m thinking it’s likely the Oilers match on him since 2.3 is a very fair price.

But if they lose Broberg, that blueline is looking pretty damn ugly outside of Ekholm-Bouchard, so who knows what they’ll prioritize here.

 

[greybush314]

Yeah I like Holloway a good amount. I legitimately want him.

But I’m thinking it’s likely the Oilers match on him since 2.3 is a very fair price.

But if they lose Broberg, that blueline is looking pretty damn ugly outside of Ekholm-Bouchard, so who knows what they’ll prioritize here.

I don't see anyway they can match Broberg without trading Ekholm and I doubt they want to do that. The Nurse contract is killing them

 

[Majorityof1]

He's a nice to have and I doubt Armstrong would have offered him if he wasn't comfortable paying him.

But of the 2, Broberg is more valuable.

Broberg was 22 and played 12 NHL games last tear. He was in the AHL a lot. We majirly overpaid based on potential. He has struggled to put it together. He had a good playoffs, but that was 10 games. He has all the tools in the world, but it's a big question if he can put it together or not.

 

[Drubilly]

Y'all need to watch Hollaway more. Very Bluuesey player. Very 2019 cup identity player. I doubt he was a throw in

Well yeah, I like Holloway. I watch the Oilers. I would love him on the Blues but I see Broberg as the more valuable player to the Blues at this time.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Wow!

Didn’t see that coming but Army really weaponizong the cap space.

And both offers are right under the bar for higher draft compensation too.

Is Broberg currently worth $4.6M and Holloway $2.3M? No, but the only way order sheets work is if you overpay for potential a bit. If it was for money the Oilers would be happy with then it’s an easy match and there’s no point.

That said, both players come with some risk. Broberg was excellent in the Cup Final when finally called upon but was pretty inconsistent otherwise. Holloway could be like Neighbours but he’s yet to fully stick in the NHL yet.

But the signings are only for 2 years so even if the Blues gambled wrong, these are far from crippling contracts. And they both have good potential and are quite young with most of their careers in front of them.

My guess is the Oilers let Broberg go and match the deal for Holloway. But I guess we’ll see! They have 7 days to decide.

Blues better get Neighbours and Hofer signed to extensions before they reach RFA status…although I don’t think the Oilers have the picks needed to go after them. And certainly don’t have the Cap space but still… Retaliation could be coming at some point.

At the very least, this is MASSIVELY entertaining.

 

[bleedblue1223]

An Oilers writer said we've been in talks since July.

Let's pretend Broberg is in the picture for this season. What are the D-pairings on opening night?

Leddy-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Suter-Kessel?

Broberg and Suter could go either way with me. Do we want to balance out offense and defense and go Suter/Faulk, Broberg/Kessel, or just feed offensive minutes to Broberg/Faulk? I think both would do well for the young guys. Either Broberg/Kessel are together on easier minutes or Broberg can just focus on offense with Faulk and Kessel gets a former great to learn from.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

An Oilers writer said we've been in talks since July.


Broberg and Suter could go either way with me. Do we want to balance out offense and defense and go Suter/Faulk, Broberg/Kessel, or just feed offensive minutes to Broberg/Faulk? I think both would do well for the young guys. Either Broberg/Kessel are together on easier minutes or Broberg can just focus on offense with Faulk and Kessel gets a former great to learn from.

That's the battle I was having. Can you trust Broberg and Kessel together at this point? Ultimately I think they'd mix up the vets with the kids, at least until the kids establish themselves more. Heck, if all goes well, I could envision a scenario where Broberg-Kessel ends up being our #2 pairing if Faulk doesn't bounce back from last year.

Wow!

Didn’t see that coming but Army really weaponizong the cap space.

And both offers are right under the bar for higher draft compensation too.

Is Broberg currently worth $4.6M and Holloway $2.3M? No, but the only way order sheets work is if you overpay for potential a bit. If it was for money the Oilers would be happy with then it’s an easy match and there’s no point.

That said, both players come with some risk. Broberg was excellent in the Cup Final when finally called upon but was pretty inconsistent otherwise. Holloway could be like Neighbours but he’s yet to fully stick in the NHL yet.

But the signings are only for 2 years so even if the Blues gambled wrong, these are far from crippling contracts. And they both have good potential and are quite young with most of their careers in front of them.

My guess is the Oilers let Broberg go and match the deal for Holloway. But I guess we’ll see! They have 7 days to decide.

Blues better get Neighbours and Hofer signed to extensions before they reach RFA status…although I don’t think the Oilers have the picks needed to go after them. And certainly don’t have the Cap space but still… Retaliation could be coming at some point.

At the very least, this is MASSIVELY entertaining.

The Blues also have a pretty solid pipeline of prospects so even if Broberg and Holloway don't work out, we've had enough draft capital the last couple seasons to make it so losing those picks likely isn't going to hurt us much.

Re: Neighbours and Hofer - Their agents have to be liking the added pressure of the situation.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

An Oilers writer said we've been in talks since July.


Broberg and Suter could go either way with me. Do we want to balance out offense and defense and go Suter/Faulk, Broberg/Kessel, or just feed offensive minutes to Broberg/Faulk? I think both would do well for the young guys. Either Broberg/Kessel are together on easier minutes or Broberg can just focus on offense with Faulk and Kessel gets a former great to learn from.

I think given the number we put on him, we see Broberg in our top 4. Suter is on his last legs. He is only in top 4 if nobody else can handle it, which is what it looked was going to happen before this morning.

 

[Majorityof1]

I think given the number we put on him, we see Broberg in our top 4. Suter is on his last legs. He is only in top 4 if nobody else can handle it, which is what it looked was going to happen before this morning.

I think the number we put on both has more to do with compensation than where we see Broberg. We gave both max compensation fir a 2nd and 3rd. You can't do 2 of the same pick in same year since it has to be your team's original pick in the next draft. We put as much pressure as possible on the Oilers without giving up a 1st.

I do agree we will give Broberg every chance to win a top 4 role, because why not. But if he doesn't, this was a more long term play. We can move him down and hope he develops.

 

[tfriede2]

I think we may come out if this with just the Pittsburgh trade (at least we get our 2025 2nd back). Edmonton will put Kane on LTIR (I know they can’t do so now and need to wait, and that they’ll need to be cap compliant when he returns). There are some trade pieces (Skinner at $3 mil 1 year remaining, Arvidsson at $4 mil 2 years, Henrique $3 mil 2 years, Ceci $3.25 mil 1 year, Kulak $2.75 mil 2 years). Their problem, though is that they’ll need to trade 2 of those pieces if they want to keep Broberg, and then replace those traded players with low salary players. So, as I run through this again, I like our chances of getting one of them; but I think Edmonton makes a trade (or 2) to keep one (probably Holloway?)

 

[Shwabeal]

There are some trade pieces (Skinner at $3 mil 1 year remaining, Arvidsson at $4 mil 2 years, Henrique $3 mil 2 years, Ceci $3.25 mil 1 year, Kulak $2.75 mil 2 years).

Would be extremely shocked if they decided to trade any of the three guys they literally just signed to these contracts.