Confirmed Signing with Link: Oilers decline to match offer sheets for Broberg and Holloway

[Bouboumaster]

Broberg, I get it, but why not Holloway?

 

[stl76]

Not even a top 15 prospect for us and arguably top 20. He’s not “very good” and his NHL future is very much a big question mark. If he does make it, it’s likely as a bottom pairing guy and not as an impact player.

Thus, he’s already been replaced pretty easily in our organization.

He’s a hell of a lot closer to 10th than 20th IMO. Just because the Blues have a deep prospect pool does not mean that he is not a very good prospect. Watch him at the WJC this year and let me know if your opinion changes at all.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

the Blues are going to be looking over their shoulder with every RFA for the next decade.

I wouldn't have matched Broberg either, that's more than double what he's worth. I would have matched Holloway and I don't really get not doing so.

As are the Oilers after getting two of their best young players poached for a second and third rounder.

 

[HockeyScotty]

So why was Ceci traded then?

I thought that was done so that broberg would take his cap and roster spot

For the extra 3rd rounder + prospect they got from St. Louis as "future considerations" = not matching the offer sheets

 

[Dakine]

I get it. Edmonton fans are saying way overpaid, and players will never amount to anything. But I also believe the blues did their homework on this one. I trust our blues scouts - management, and player development over the oilers any day of the week. I think they see something in both players. Edmonton is just a bit butthurt that the blues fleeced them!

Nobody said they will never amount to anything. They are overpaid and Edmonton can't afford to be the ones overpaying. St. Louis can. That is all.

 

[ColbyChaos]

They played a bad team once and lost. Other than that, every single first round matchup they have had has been significantly more difficult than any Oilers first round matchup. Tampa and Boston >>> the Kings.

They’ve also made the playoffs many more times in the same era.

The last 3 years the Oilers only lost to teams that won the cup (Colorado, Vegas, Florida).

Tampa was already running on fumes after 21&22 meanwhile Boston always tended to get eliminated the very next round after tucking their children to bed. No great team the leafs lost to even won a cup

Try again little bro.

 

[nturn06]

So why was Ceci traded then?

I thought that was done so that broberg would take his cap and roster spot

The Oilers may have a target in mind which in their oppinion may be better than Ceci/Broberg....
At some point the Oilers needed to improve on the second line anyhow.

 

[Mighty Makar]

This could not have happened to a better team or fan base. Well played, Blues.

 

[LivingRentFree]

The last 3 years the Oilers only lost to teams that won the cup (Colorado, Vegas, Florida).

Tampa was already on the downswing and Boston always tended to get eliminated the very next round after tucking their children to bed.

Try again little bro.

Keep telling yourself that haha.

 

[dgibb10]

This is a fair point, but they might very well have tried and not gotten close to a deal; and felt the OS was their best chance to get them at a cheaper acquisition cost than what Edmonton had held out for. Perhaps it is Edmonton that "should have" adjusted their asking price in light of what happened.

I agree. Edmonton also played this incredibly stupidly by a) not getting their RFAs locked up, and b) not making a trade instead of getting offer sheeted.

Lose Lose scenario

 

[nturn06]

I get it. Edmonton fans are saying way overpaid, and players will never amount to anything. But I also believe the blues did their homework on this one. I trust our blues scouts - management, and player development over the oilers any day of the week. I think they see something in both players. Edmonton is just a bit butthurt that the blues fleeced them!

I think that nobody said that they will never amount to anything.

They are definitely overpaid, and they could amount to something or they may not.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Also overpaying so that you had to dump hayes as well.

2nd+2nd+3rd+3rd for Broberg and Holloway. Should have just negotiated with edmonton and got a more reasonable AAV

I wouldn’t be shocked if the Blues attempted a trade first but the cost was higher than they were willing to pay.

 

[dgibb10]

What tf are you carrying on about? Hayes is slow and doesn't fit their mold. The bigger mistake was bringing him in to begin with. You keep trying to look at these moves in a vacuum that doesn't exist and refuse to listen to any reason on the matter, which is either justification cause you're an Oil fan, or you despise the Blues maybe? Either way, Broberg and Holloway are both younger players that have NHL and Finals experience. Did they overpay? Sure, but another way to view that is they overpaid for younger players with experience using picks that may or may not be used on players that will have an impact down the line. Iow, those picks go young guys, they paid for their experience as well with the "overpay." Not sure where you're struggling.

Hayes is older and wasn't needed. Stop trying to shove all these moves into a vacuum that doesn't exist.

An overpayment is an overpayment.

having 1.7 mill in retained money on hayes, or having him buried in the AHL at 2.4 mill cap hit has the same negative impact as overpaying a younger player by the same amount.

 

[Dakine]

This may have already been explained in this thread but as a net result of all these moves (Podkolzin, Ceci/Emberson, RFAs), what is Edmonton cap situation to address the blueline...either with a healthy Kane or Kane LTIRed...?

How much wiggle room do they have now to go out and add a defender or two?

It's ~$950K. Not enough to do anything right now without moving players out. It would be enough to add a contract worth ~$4.5m at the TDL.

 

[Mikey71]

I don't think a trade is won or lost at the time of the trade. For StL, they are banking on what they will get from these 2 going forward. They aren't paying them for what they have done in the past since that does nothing for them.. They are paying for what they are hoping they will become as early as next year. These 2 aren't the Averys or Marchands of the hockey world. They seem like good guys and I sincerely wish them well. They made their choices and I honestly wish them well with lots of success in StL, as an Oiler fan. Hell, if Broberg plays lights out, they may have underpaid in terms of salary. Nobody knows yet.

I also don't think the Oilers won or lost this trade right now either. How happy either player was in Edmonton is speculative. Holloway likely looked at the depth in Edmonton and saw that a healthy team had him the 4th line LW. At this stage he needed more but it didn't exist in Edmonton. His new salary was simply too high for a 4LW when building the team in the cap world. Broberg seemed to sour on Edmonton more though and I get that too. It seemed kind of likely that he would play the right side. When Edmonton traded Ceci and not Kulak, it seemed more obvious from that point on for sure that Broberg was going to play the right side, a side he reportedly didn't like playing. At that point I assume he hoped Edmonton wouldn't match. I don't think he would develop into the player he hopes to be on his off side and I assume neither did he.

This situation's winner and loser won't be known for a year or 2. What did Broberg and Holloway become in StL and what did Edmonton do with the cap space and picks. Nobody overpaid for results that haven't even happened yet. The last thing in this novel ties into what is rumored to be going on in Edmonton. It is rumored that McD, Bouchard and Draisaitl would all take less if all 3 were willing. Matching these 2 offer sheets went against what they are hoping to do as an organization. The optics are better in the end for this all to play out.

 

[Stelmacki]

I wouldn’t be shocked if the Blues attempted a trade first but the cost was higher than they were willing to pay.

Blues tried to trade for Broberg at the trade deadline with an offer centered around Buchnevich. Edmonton said no.

 

[HockeyScotty]

Will be interesting to see how Broberg does this season. Either way, good for STL to add two young players with just a 2nd and 3rd.

What does Edmonton's Defense look like now?

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Brown/Stretcher/Emberson
Kulak - Brown/Stretcher/Emberson

I'm not sure what the pairings will be, but I imagine they will be looking to add a top 4 RHD during the season

The $945k in cap space can accrue until TDL to be about $4-5million; then they can go after someone like David Savard, Connor Murphy, or Shea Theodore (if VGK is struggling) while leaving space for Kane to return from LTIR. If they use up all of the space now then they have to shed salary around the TDL and use up more assets.

 

[dgibb10]

I wouldn’t be shocked if the Blues attempted a trade first but the cost was higher than they were willing to pay.

And like I have also said, Edmonton is also incredibly stupid for letting it get to this point.

Dumping Ceci earlier could have dissuaded an offer sheet in the first place.
Simply signing them to the very reasonable contracts they were asking for.
Or trading them instead of getting offer sheeted.

It appears edmonton used some leverage, perhaps threatening to match, if St Louis did not sweeten the pot further with the pick + prospect.

But in all, lose lose situation where both teams could have gotten a better outcome.

 

[McJedi]

+/- is a terrible argument. Broberg had the worst numbers of any Oiler defender this playoffs. He formed a part of the statistical 2 worst pairings for the Oilers, Nurse-Broberg, Kulak-Broberg. Oilers fault for playing him on his off side, but not sure how much better he'd have faired on LHD considering how he's looked there in the NHL throughout his career.

Yet it's odd that Nurse was a -9 in the playoffs while Broberg was a +7.

Nurse with the Corsi relative to teammates at -12 (awful). 12 giveaways to 3 takeaways.

Broberg with Corsi relative of -9 with same 44% Ozone starts as Nurse.

So I guess the puck goes into Edmonton's net with Nurse is out there and into the other teams net with Broberg is out there. That is a strange amount of puck luck.

It's also clear Nurse sucks. And now with no Ceci and no Broberg... You'll be playing him more. Ekholm too. He's 35 so good luck getting him to the playoffs with a lot of health and energy.

 

[Old Boys Club]

Yet it's odd that Nurse was a -9 in the playoffs while Broberg was a +7.

Nurse with the Corsi relative to teammates at -12 (awful). 12 giveaways to 3 takeaways.

Broberg with Corsi relative of -9 with same 44% Ozone starts as Nurse.

So I guess the puck goes into Edmonton's net with Nurse is out there and into the other teams net with Broberg is out there. That is a strange amount of puck luck.

It's also clear Nurse sucks. And now with no Ceci and no Broberg... You'll be playing him more. Ekholm too. He's 35 so good luck getting him to the playoffs with a lot of health and energy.

97% OiSV% for Broberg. There's your answer, unless you want to argue that's a reasonable thing to expect for the rest of his career.

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

What if Podz and Emberson end up as the better players?

Podz and Emberson are AHLers.

 

[Canovin]

Pods and Emberson are AHLers.

Knob coached Emberson so he knows something we don't

 

[Captain Controversy]

“Yall ain't getting broberg!!! Hahahahaha” - @Captain Controversy 8/17/24

Sad face. Lol

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

Knob coached Emberson so he knows something we don't

He's cheap. That's his upside. Can be buried in the Minors.

 

[LemonSauceD]

the Blues are going to be looking over their shoulder with every RFA for the next decade.

I wouldn't have matched Broberg either, that's more than double what he's worth. I would have matched Holloway and I don't really get not doing so.

Looking over their shoulder from who? Oilers? When they have Bouchard and Draisaitl to re sign? Lmao