I’ll chock this up as Holland mistake mostly to how it got to this point. Failed or not attempt past negotiations is one part of that blame. The prospects not really wanting to be here in the case of Broberg also on Hollands handling.
I agree. THe kiss-of-Oiler-death for Broberg was when Holland signed Kulak to a long-term, pretty lucrative contract. Nothing against Kulak, who did well (but wasn't good enough to be 2nd pairing), but that just shut out Broberg for another two years or so. And, perhaps understandably, he got pissed and wanted out.
You can also look at it from the other side and say, not unreasonably, that prior to spring 2024 Broberg's play wasn't good enough to justify his having a top-four (or even top-six) role on the club.
But still, I put the blame for this mostly on Holland. He signed Nurse to the ridiculous contract (not entirely his fault as he was only GM for a year and faced a depleted D-roster... but he still did it)
and he thought Kulak might be the 2nd-pairing guy (which he wasn't) and thus set Broberg back two years, and thus now we lost a frustrated Broberg.
The major and consistent problem with the Oilers over the past four or five years (remember the Winnipeg series in 2021?) has been the defence-core. Barrie-out and Ekholm-in was one of the few great moves they made, but given Ekholm's age there's a limited warranty on that one.