Just like most trades I think automatically picking a winner/loser right after it happens is often silly. Like most trades, especially ones involving young players or picks, only time will tell.
The Oilers are worse now than they were a couple weeks ago. I don’t think you can really sugarcoat it. I think matching would of been a worse mistake though. I personally think Broberg was leaving regardless. I don’t think they could of done much to keep him. If they wanted to keep him they probably would of had to move Kulak the offseason before. But guess what, Broberg hasn’t shown he’s better than Kulak and he certainly wasn’t last year or this year. He might be next year or he might not. The Oilers aren’t in a position to find out for 4.6m. Broberg is a very hard player to gauge. I have no idea what his value or his potential is. I personally don’t see how anyone can say with confidence that he will turn into something.
As far as Holloway goes, I think its another loss for the Oilers. I think they could use him in the lineup. But I also don’t think he will break out significantly. There’s lots of similar types of players as him. His value comes from being young and cheap but he starts to lose value when he’s paid likely double what hes shown.
As far as the Blues go. I see a lot of people saying there’s no risk in what they did. They didn’t give up much. I somewhat agree but I also don’t think they maximized their cap space efficiently either. We seen guys like Walman, Laine etc and have seen other guys in past get traded and the receiving team gets picks as well. Also does the offer sheets set precedents on other younger players they need to sign.
I think at the end of the day it depends what Broberg turns into. I really don’t have a clue.
I agree with almost everything, although I don’t think the Oilers are distinctly worse for next season - although the window may have shortened with the loss of cheap young depth (although the moment they signed the new contracts, that depth is no longer qualified as cheap).
Their forwards likely got better in terms of execution and production at the consequence of some youth, speed and size. The impact of this isn’t likely next year but sometime during McDrai’s second contract. The core that has carried the team for years remains in place.
Their defence lost Broberg, who wasn’t a mainstay anyways - the real loss here is the loss of a defenceman with the potential to replace Ekholm a few years down the line. Ceci was a solid #5 forced to play to high in the line up. Your top 3 defencemen remain the same. Any other gaps are likely filled through the year.
Stu enters his third year as a starting goaltender at a ripe age of 26, having already played in a Cup Final and becoming a NHL starter far sooner than he was expected to due to the Soup fiasco. Growing more consistent and having fewer errors isn’t too much of a stretch for him.
All in all - they should remain quite competitive.
