Broberg... I used to tease the oilers for what a bust he was... But the guy looked excellent in the playoffs. Composed, good movement, good decision making. Like many of the Oilers towards the bottom of their roster, he excelled when the chips were down. It was surprising, but impressive.
Might he regress in St Louis? Certainly possible... but if he does maintain his playoff level play and becomes a reliable middle pair guy with his size and skating ability... The Blues just smoked the Oilers by stealing one of their young core pieces right as he made the jump. And this will go down as the best offer sheet ever done in the cap era. The Avs did this with Toews, but it cost them 2 2nd rounders and a higher salary back then vs the cap today.
Holloway looks like a career middle six guy to me. Good NHL size, speed with enough skill to make flash plays here and there but not enough hockey IQ to be a consistent 20+ goal scorer that is stapled to the 2nd line. He'll have a year here and there where he does get 25+ goals, but he'll also have months where he puts up 4 points in 14 games. To get him for a 3rd and $2.29MM is still a nice piece of GM work. He's just 22. And will be a RFA in two years.
Blues GM took the Oilers to the woodshed on this one. And the Oilers moves to grab a bust from Vancouver and a nonbody from San Jose aren't going to keep them level on talent.
As a playoff team, I think the Oilers are quite a bit worse than they were in June. Lost a lot of that playoff size, speed, forecheck and grit that thrives in a playoff setting. Replaced it with aging vets that score, but don't grind. And with injury prone nobodies.
The Oil must feel very confident they have Drai locked up to resign because this looks like a club that will take a step back in 2024-25. And then lose at least two key players in 2025 as cap casualties. It's gonna be awesome when it's clear they were two goals away from glory and that is as close as this core ever got as parity tears the team down.
Might he regress in St Louis? Certainly possible... but if he does maintain his playoff level play and becomes a reliable middle pair guy with his size and skating ability... The Blues just smoked the Oilers by stealing one of their young core pieces right as he made the jump. And this will go down as the best offer sheet ever done in the cap era. The Avs did this with Toews, but it cost them 2 2nd rounders and a higher salary back then vs the cap today.
Holloway looks like a career middle six guy to me. Good NHL size, speed with enough skill to make flash plays here and there but not enough hockey IQ to be a consistent 20+ goal scorer that is stapled to the 2nd line. He'll have a year here and there where he does get 25+ goals, but he'll also have months where he puts up 4 points in 14 games. To get him for a 3rd and $2.29MM is still a nice piece of GM work. He's just 22. And will be a RFA in two years.
Blues GM took the Oilers to the woodshed on this one. And the Oilers moves to grab a bust from Vancouver and a nonbody from San Jose aren't going to keep them level on talent.
As a playoff team, I think the Oilers are quite a bit worse than they were in June. Lost a lot of that playoff size, speed, forecheck and grit that thrives in a playoff setting. Replaced it with aging vets that score, but don't grind. And with injury prone nobodies.
The Oil must feel very confident they have Drai locked up to resign because this looks like a club that will take a step back in 2024-25. And then lose at least two key players in 2025 as cap casualties. It's gonna be awesome when it's clear they were two goals away from glory and that is as close as this core ever got as parity tears the team down.
