Confirmed with Link: Oilers Do Not Match Broberg ($4.58M X2) & Holloway ($2.29M x 2) Offer Sheets | Oilers acquire STL 3rd '28 & Paul Fischer for Futures

[McDNicks17]

You switch the goal posts. Kinda silly emotional response. Go recheck your character assertion at draft time. He was an extremely rare age 17 letter on Sweden's U20 team and throughout all years of his eligibility. Missed a month of game time and stepped in for his team when they needed a boost and delivered it.

One teammate appreciated it.

Connor McDavid took notice of the Swede's game. He began by talking about his mobility and ability to transport the puck out of pressure, "[he's] skating everywhere, skating pucks out of his zone. He can be a one-man breakout at times. That's what he needs to do to be successful. "His legs are a gift and he's gotta use them."

His head coach had similar praise. Heck even some of the biggest doubters on this board flipped their opinion.

Oilers lost control over a controllable business situation letting an inflationary market determine a new value beyond the one and done lowball offer made.

You can try to blame management or his teammates all you want, but it's clear now that Broberg and his agent were using last season as an audition for his next team because he clearly had no intention of being here next year.

 

[Shathar]

I've seen more 'sad Holloway' memes today than 'Raygun' memes.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

You can try to blame management or his teammates all you want, but it's clear now that Broberg and his agent were using last season as an audition for his next team because he clearly had no intention of being here next year.

Would you stay in a dead end job? Moreover would you move to an ideal play situation with strong mentorship and three times the bag because you were stuck with questionable career advancement which risked stalled earning potential? It's silly for virtually anyone to.

Manage your most treasured assets better. Get ahead of the issue and don't let it get to the point where you enable the Quicky Mart down the street to snake your stalled employee. One lowball didn't cut it and the bullish rising cap market filled it. After a clear indication of character and ability in hardest situational conditions.

 

[McDNicks17]

Would you stay in a dead end job? Moreover would you move to an ideal play situation with strong mentorship and three times the bag because you were stuck with questionable career advancement which risked stalled earning potential? It's silly for virtually anyone to.

Manage your most treasured assets better. Get ahead of the issue and don't let it get to the point where you enable the Quicky Mart down the street to snake your stalled employee. One lowball didn't cut it and the bullish rising cap market filled it. After a clear indication of character and ability in hardest situational conditions.

That "dead end job" was two goals away from the Stanley Cup haha.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

That "dead end job" was two goals away from the Stanley Cup haha.

And back to a 0-0 record with 30 cartel members. Past performance is no guarantee of future success.

The message for the last several years is coming clear. Young players will choose opportunity and financial security over everything else. Not exclusively but it is a trend. The Oilers situation reinforces what has begun to happen in modern NHL with young players. Give up control at your peril NHL management. The market, often largely inefficient, will respond.

 

[guymez]

If I recall correctly, they tried playing Kulak on his off side multiple times, and they eventually gave up, as he wasn't particularly effective. As I said, no room at the inn.

Sounds about right. Same could be said for Nurse.
These are vet players so thats really a testament to how difficult it is to play on your off side.
All the more reason why the team shouldnt have messed up Brobergs development by insisting that he play his off wing at a level he hadnt even adjusted to. Then to just flip flop him back and forth (RHD...LHD) as if that would be the answer...surely Holland and company could have been smarter than that.
Little wonder he struggled.
That (not directed at you) seems to be lost on most posters.

All because they had an organizational weakness at RHD. Holland dropped the ball big time.
Addressing that weakness via trade should have been a priority. Instead Broberg (a young and unestablished player) was expected to solve the problem. Brutal.
It surely didnt help that Holland badly overpaid for a very medicore LHD in Nurse.
Essentially handcuffing the team and it ultimately played a role in Borbergs experience with the team as well.

Its not a popular take on here at all (shitting on the player is very popular) but the Org bears most of the responsibility for how this got to the point of Broberg being offer sheeted.

 

[oobga]

Sounds about right. Same could be said for Nurse.
These are vet players so thats really a testament to how difficult it is to play on your off side.
All the more reason why the team shouldnt have messed up Brobergs development by insisting that he play his off wing at a level he hadnt even adjusted to. Then to just flip flop him back and forth (RHD...LHD) as if that would be the answer...surely Holland and company could have been smarter than that.
Little wonder he struggled. That (not directed at you) seems to be lost on most posters.

All because they had an organizational weakness at RHD. Holland dropped the ball big time.
Addressing that weakness via trade should have been a priority. Instead Broberg (a young and unestablished player) was expected to solve the problem. Brutal.
It surely didnt help that Holland badly overpaid for a very medicore LHD in Nurse.
Essentially handcuffing the team and it ultimately played a role in Borbergs experience with the team as well.

Its not a popular take on here at all (shitting on the player is very popular) but the Org bears most of the responsibility for how this got to the point of Broberg being offer sheeted.

It's funny in hindsight that the player media tried to sell to use was unmovable because he was so liked in the room and would have disrupted chemistry to trade him ended up on our 3rd pair in playoffs behind a kid with barely any NHL experience, plus we just trade him off like he's nothing a couple months later. Knob also demoted him multiple times in the season as a cry for help as he struggled with how to deal with our crap bottom 4 D group. A struggle that lasted until our playoff elimination.

The need slapped us upside the head in the 2023 playoffs and we all knew long before. Signed Brown and called it a summer. Nothing but excuses and cap problems of our own making to do nothing all season. Holland was really just too lazy to ever fix that right side, fully confirmed.

 

[guymez]

It's funny in hindsight that the player media tried to sell to use was unmovable because he was so liked in the room and would have disrupted chemistry to trade him ended up on our 3rd pair in playoffs behind a kid with barely any NHL experience, plus we just trade him off like he's nothing a couple months later. Knob also demoted him multiple times in the season as a cry for help as he struggled with how to deal with our crap bottom 4 D group. A struggle that lasted until our playoff elimination.

Holland was really just too lazy to ever fix that right side, fully confirmed.

I would really like to hear Hollands reasoning for this.
He made some good decisions but he also made some very bad decisions which seemed to undermine the good that he did. That is especially true of the defence.
He made a great trade in bringing in Ekholm but the Nurse contract was such a collosol mistake that he basically (possibly permanently) handcuffed the team from really improving the D much beyond what it was last season.
That is especially true with the new Drai and Bouchard contracts coming up.
IMO they have to find a taker for Nurse. I dont give a rip about how he is besties with Connor and neither should Connor. Winning is all that matters.
Surely there is a team or 2 out there near the cap floor who needs a vet dman.

 

[oobga]

I would really like to hear Hollands reasoning for this.
He made some good decisions but he also made some very bad decisions which seemed to undermine the good that he did. That is especially true of the defence.
He made a great trade in bringing in Ekholm but the Nurse contract was such a collosol mistake that he bascially (possibly permanently) handcuffed the team from really improving the D much beyond what it was last season.
That is especially true with the new Drai and Bouchard contracts coming up.
IMO they have to find a taker for Nurse. I dont give a rip about how he is besties with Connor and neither should Connor. Winning is all that matters.
Surely there is a team or 2 out there near the cap floor who needs a vet dman.

Would be super ballsy to trade Nurse, plus how Nurse needs to waive his NMC.

First you probably need to lock in Drai/McDavid long term again, so would be a move for next summer. Finding the right partner for Nurse could raise his stock again where teams would actually want him and he isn't just a cap dump. Can't ignore his buy proof deal, that's hard for any team to take on, but if you can somehow get him performing in a year where he looks like at least a 7-8M D, probably opens up loads of options. A performance that probably depends on his partner doing 80% of the passing in the zone, covering his butt defensively, etc ... Hopefully the boxcars looking good can be enough for GM's out there that still love their big "tough" D that can play lots of minutes.

 

[guymez]

Would be super ballsy to trade Nurse, plus how Nurse needs to waive his NMC.

First you probably need to lock in Drai/McDavid long term again, so would be a move for next summer. Finding the right partner for Nurse could raise his stock again where teams would actually want him and he isn't just a cap dump. Can't ignore his buy proof deal, that's hard for any team to take on, but if you can somehow get him performing in a year where he looks like at least a 7-8M D, probably opens up loads of options. A performance that probably depends on his partner doing 80% of the passing in the zone, covering his butt defensively, etc ... Hopefully the boxcars looking good can be enough for GM's out there that still love their big "tough" D that can play lots of minutes.

Good post.
I agree 100%

 

[AUAIOMRN]

This narrative is tired. They both knew an offersheet was coming and wouldn't sign with Edmonton until they were overpaid on an OS (grossly so in Broberg's case)

We don't really know for sure what each side was demanding. Rarely are teams unable to come to terms with their RFAs, so it seems unlikely that we had two at the same time that were being completely unreasonable. What we do know for sure is that we lost them for almost nothing.

 

[yukoner88]

Does he like his mother is the question

Maybe he was referring to his mother-in-law

 

[Fourier]

I did watch several of those games. I was interested in what he would look like and where the Kings would place and if we get them again. Not watching you wouldn't know Arvie was hurt in two of those games and with one of those looking pretty bad. The counting numbers are short sample and frankly Kings had an easy stretch and Arvie and others putting up pts against weak clubs.

A full 4/6 goals arvie scored last season were in two games against Calgary and Chicago. I watched both of those badly played games. In the Chicago game particularly where Arvie had 3 pts it was a clown game that looked like both teams were trying to lose. Arvie scoring the tying goal late was a curse more than a blessing. Meant that the Kings play the Oilers who they always lose to.

Arviddson played the worst playoff game of his entire career in game 1. Sobering to watch that. He was awful. Really he wasn't much in the whole series.

I'm a fan of the player but he's mostly done. We'll see a player that can play for spurts but will have trouble maintaining and staying healthy.

Heres an interesting thing too. Arvie wasn't exactly lighting the lamp in LA at EV. His whole 3 seasons there, whole body of work he only had 37EV goals. Meanwhile even a pedestrian Foegele had netted 41EV goals the past 3 seasons. Only mentioning this due to a prevailing view on the board that we're so improved with additions like this. Keeping min mind too Foegele played most of his minutes in bottomsix, Arvie most in topsix.

I'm not even a Foegele fan saying that. But Arvie is a worse EV scorer at this point and has been for sometime. Nor will Arvie be getting much PP time here.


Gee I'm reminded that Jeff Skinner is the poster boy for bad veteran bad team guy. A guy that was a 9M buck joke of a player before being bought out by a team thankful to be rid of the baggage. Only one season in Buffalo where Skinner even applied himself.

The only success Jeff Skinner ever aimed for was getting overpaid. What a team guy. Not a fan of him.

Speaking of "type of person". Jeff Skinner has been uncoachable and uninterested in team success almost all of his career. He's been one of the worst attitude vets in the league. Own zone play completely optional.

What type of player is Jeff Skinner?

Foegele played 70 more games over the period you are speaking about.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

I would really like to hear Hollands reasoning for this.
He made some good decisions but he also made some very bad decisions which seemed to undermine the good that he did. That is especially true of the defence.
He made a great trade in bringing in Ekholm but the Nurse contract was such a collosol mistake that he basically (possibly permanently) handcuffed the team from really improving the D much beyond what it was last season.
That is especially true with the new Drai and Bouchard contracts coming up.
IMO they have to find a taker for Nurse. I dont give a rip about how he is besties with Connor and neither should Connor. Winning is all that matters.
Surely there is a team or 2 out there near the cap floor who needs a vet dman.

Wasn't Seth Jones signed just before Nurse for about the same money and that put pressure on Holland to do the same? Not excusing his action but just thinking why he'd do that contract. Nurse camp saying we want Seth Jones money.

 

[guymez]

Wasn't Seth Jones signed just before Nurse for about the same money and that put pressure on Holland to do the same? Not excusing his action but just thinking why he'd do that contract. Nurse camp saying we want Seth Jones money.

Yeah...I think you're right about that.
IIRC Holland could have bridged Nurse at that time because he was an RFA,
He signed him long term to the current contract.

 

[McShogun99]

McLeod lost game 7 for the Oilers. Screw that guy.

I like to blame Kulak on that 2nd goal but letting Florida score first was a backbreaker and let them lock the game down. I believe we win game 7 if we got that first goal

 

[Stoneman89]

Sounds about right. Same could be said for Nurse.
These are vet players so thats really a testament to how difficult it is to play on your off side.
All the more reason why the team shouldnt have messed up Brobergs development by insisting that he play his off wing at a level he hadnt even adjusted to. Then to just flip flop him back and forth (RHD...LHD) as if that would be the answer...surely Holland and company could have been smarter than that.
Little wonder he struggled.
That (not directed at you) seems to be lost on most posters.

All because they had an organizational weakness at RHD. Holland dropped the ball big time.
Addressing that weakness via trade should have been a priority. Instead Broberg (a young and unestablished player) was expected to solve the problem. Brutal.
It surely didnt help that Holland badly overpaid for a very medicore LHD in Nurse.
Essentially handcuffing the team and it ultimately played a role in Borbergs experience with the team as well.

Its not a popular take on here at all (shitting on the player is very popular) but the Org bears most of the responsibility for how this got to the point of Broberg being offer sheeted.

Yes, we can certainly agree that the Nurse contract (and his subsequent lackluster play) have impacted this team greatly and forced their hand into doing things they wouldn't/shouldn't have to do.

 

[McShogun99]

He took the demotion so in stride that he requested a trade and refused to negotiate.

Good riddance.

How many times do players request a trade then spend years with that organization? He should have been moved before he had a chance to negotiate with other teams, especially if he wasn’t willing to sign a deal before July 1.

Whoever let Broberg play those last 2 regular season games to allow him to be offer sheeted needs to be replaced.

 

[McDNicks17]

Yeah...I think you're right about that.
IIRC Holland could have bridged Nurse at that time because he was an RFA,
He signed him long term to the current contract.

Nah. Holland bridged him to UFA.

 

[Boner Pills]

St
Louis doesn't need luck to pay them
They have the current cap space plus the multi millions from expiring contracts next t year
BRILLIANT move by Armstrong, low risk extremely high potential

BRILLIANT first post. I know St Louis has cap space. Good luck getting $7M in performance out of them.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Yeah...I think you're right about that.
IIRC Holland could have bridged Nurse at that time because he was an RFA,
He signed him long term to the current contract.

A 3rd bridge contract for Nurse was pretty much impossible. He was about to become a UFA after his 2-year bridge deal at $5.6M/season expired.

 

[McDNicks17]

How many times do players request a trade then spend years with that organization? He should have been moved before he had a chance to negotiate with other teams, especially if he wasn’t willing to sign a deal before July 1.

Whoever let Broberg play those last 2 regular season games to allow him to be offer sheeted needs to be replaced.

That 2 game thing was debunked.

 

[Frank the Tank]

BRILLIANT first post. I know St Louis has cap space. Good luck getting $7M in performance out of them.

Armstrong is already trying to ease expectations by referring to Holloway as someone who has top-9 forward potential and Broberg as someone with top-4 defenseman potential, but they don't need to play there right away.

 

[North Cole]

People reacting to it because its cumulative and not isolated problem. For instance that none of the first picks under Holland even remain with the org. That is either horrific drafting or terrible asset management or both.

Again we only have 2 players even in the roster from the last 10 yrs of Oilers drafts. Since McD we've only landed on two that we bothered to keep. Thank god one of those is Bouchard.

Bro and Holloway could still be impact players. Thats the thing with valued prospects. There isn't a level of hockey that Holloway hasn't succeeded in, in spades.

Turn this around. If this was the Hope era and the Oilers had just obtained two first round players everybody would be saying how good this was and that we stole these players from the drafting team. Damn well we would be. This isn't folly to pry two prospect first round assets from another club.

Broberg was a better option than Desharnais the whole time Vinny was here. That part is poor argument. VD was not better, he was just the one selected, and by a coach that was fired.

Seems pretty likely to be both. Holland sat on firsts and then did nothing with them by drafting mostly mediocre to junk players.

Yeah, if this was the HOPE era Oilers you got nothing else to cheer and look forward too, of course there would be excitement of sniping some young players from another team. Has nothing to do with resigning these players. A cup contending team needs to evaluate players on their current use, not CBA parlor tricks to keep fans excited.

It's really not a poor argument, Knob had 70+ games prior to the end of the SCF to try out and insert Broberg over VD and did not. Obviously VD was higher on the depth chart, that's inarguable and has nothing to do with the ghost of woodcroft haunting the bench.

Nothing in this post even attempts to prove out that Broberg is worth 4.6M which is ultimately the crux of the entire issue. I mean this board flat out melted down about Brown being a net negative all year with his bonus yet I've got people messaging me that we should apparently be signing two more bloated contracts because of pedigree for players that arent worth it. Broberg's 1st round mythos should be far enough in the rearview that we can accept he maxes out as a top 4 if you're lucky, and the time he's still working toward that you're paying more for him than Ceci.

The entire appeal of Holloway and Broberg was cost control, not that they were some high end contributors. They aren't cost controlled at 2M and 4M with arbitration rights anymore. I wouldn't have much of an issue if they wanted to bring back Holloway, but I don't really care that he's gone. He was a grittier Mcleod. Broberg at 4,6M is toxic waste on that contract, you can't move him for one year, he costs a lot, he's still a 6D right now working toward top 4, and he has arbitration rights in 2 years...On top of being a guy that already asked for a trade once.

 

[guymez]

Nah. Holland bridged him to UFA.

Wow.
Thats some fine work Kenny.

A 3rd bridge contract for Nurse was pretty much impossible. He was about to become a UFA after his 2-year bridge deal at $5.6M/season expired.

Fair point.
Nurse has come to represent whats wrong with this team.
His contract has already made a mess of things but thats going to get serious by next (25/26) season.
This team had better win soon.