Lots of teams have unsigned RFA's. Holloway has 9 career goals and Broberg has 3 career points fewer than Ty Emberson. They were left to "hang in the wind" because we were busy signing a (bad) GM and trying to lock down Draisaitl long term.
The Blues were lurking in the weeds and took advantage of that. I actually think they're going to regret that Broberg contract, but we'll see.
If leaving RFA negotiations for the end of august is stupid, then the Leafs, Devils, Stars, and Kraken are stupid too.