Dylan Holloway - 43gp 15g 17a +11

[Andrei79]

Edmonton had a masterclass in how to brutally mismanage your roster this summer. Idiotic and unnecessary offer sheets that would never have happened under competent management.

 

[Breakers]

Chess vs checkers as a GM

 

[Kimota]

Holloway is so good...extremely skilled, extremely fast, plays hard. Did he just hate Edmonton? I see a lot of Oilers fans trying to cope by saying he was low on their depth chart...who would be ahead of him aside from McDavid and Drai?? I don't see any other Oilers forwards I'd take over Holloway.

Holloway coming to STL reminds me a lot of Tage Thompson going to Buffalo and tearing it up. We saw the potential in Thompson when he was here, but he was never given the opportunity to show his true value.

He actually wanted to stay with the Oilers and was shocked when they did not match. He signed the offer sheet cause he and his agent literally got no response from the Oilers. He wanted to put pressure on them so they would negotiate. To this day it's mind-boggling that they did not match. And Holloway he was all screwed inside when they didn't match. He was like WTF? Esp. since it wasn't a huge amount.

Really stupid move by the Oilers.

 

[TheNumber4]

He was so obviously a legit NHLer the first game he stepped on the ice. NHL size, speed, motor, and defensive IQ. He had all the tools. His production potential was a bit of a question mark, but shouldn’t have been after his last year with the Oilers showing good chemistry with Draisaitl and showing ability to produce in the playoffs.

I don’t think he would have had PP oppurtunity in Edmomton. The 5 man unit the Oilers have is just too elite and too established. That said, this notion that he wouldn’t have gotten top 6 time in Edmonton this year is just not true. Foegele, McLeod, Kapanen, Podkolzin have all had Top 6 opportunities in Edmonton the last 2 years. Holloway would have got his shot too and likely would have done well with it. My initial reactions to both offersheets was they needed to be matched. Oilers management obviously had different ideas, ideas we won’t see come to fruition until the TDL passes.

 

[SimpleJack]

Wonder just how good the Oilers would be with both he and Broberg still on the roster.

With each passing game they play its looking better and better for STL.

 

[TheNumber4]

Wonder just how good the Oilers would be with both he and Broberg still on the roster.

With each passing game they play its looking better and better for STL.

Oilers are the odds on favourite for the Cup without them. How much better could they have been?

The improvement would only have been incremental. We are comparing the difference between Holloway and Podkolzin (his replacement). And the difference between Broberg playing his off-side and Emberson (his replacement). Plus about 4.58M extra cap space by using these replacements instead of a matched Holloway and Broberg.

While Holloway is obviously the better producer, Podkolzin has been a revelation in Edmonton. At only a $1M per year he’s chipping in some prodiuction while being completely solid, even elite on the defensive end:



So Holloway Vs. Podkolzin + $1M cap space + 3rd round pick isn’t too bad.

On the Broberg front it works out to Broberg vs. Emberson + $3.58M cap space + 2nd round pick.

Broberg wouldn’t have beat Ekholm, Nurse, or Kulak for a spot on the Left Side. His fit in Edmonton would have been playing him on his off side as a 4RHD. Which really isn’t ideal for Broberg or the Oilers. So the comparison is how well is Broberg in the 4RHD role vs. Emberson in that role. While Broberg is the much better player with a much higher potential, Emberson has done well in that role for cheap. I’m not sure if Broberg on his off side is worth 3.58M more than what Emberson is bringing. Broberg on his off side likely still ahead but the difference isn’t as much as you’d think.

The true test of this decision not to match will come at the trade dead line though, what the Oilers do with that 4.58M extra cap space and an extra 2nd + 3rd as assets to trade with, as the result of not matching. If they parlay that into a 4RHD upgrade this team absolutely needs, the idea to not matching becomes a lot more palatable and even sensible in a Cup or Bust year.