You hate to give up on him, but maybe they have to, just to bring in a player who can help them win over the next 2-3 years. It won’t be anything special but they really needed Broberg to perform early in the season. He’s clearly not taken any step forward (over the summer) they would’ve liked to have seen.
So his trade value isn’t what you’d like but there’s likely still some teams who would have interest in his future, who have a solid dman, who they can move at around (or under) a $3 million price tag, AND be willing to retain.
Detroit and Carolina come to mind. While I’m not sure DeAngelo is any answer, maybe an Olli Maatta from Detroit could be. That’s probably the best case scenario to bring in a player who can help for the immediate future, and not worry about the cap. The problem is, he’s been pretty good again for Detroit this year. Would Detroit consider it, thinking Broberg can be their #7 this year, or thinking they can develop him better in Grand Rapids, calling Edvinsson up and sitting Petry most nights? Maybe they would. Right now, they’re either going with 7 D, or scratching a solid NHL dman every game. Petry has been their #7 so far, but both Maatta and Holl have also been scratched. It has been pretty obvious though, that Petry is the man who’s going to sit most. Edvinsson is more than ready too. So they are likely to move a dman, and it’s likely going to be Maatta, who has no trade protection at all.
Or… do the Oilers just hope Broberg turns a corner in Bakersfield? This really has been the worst case scenario for Broberg and the Oilers, to start the season.. Sending him down is the last thing they wanted to see happen. Yet they’ve had to do it.
Coming into the season, they hoped he’d be good enough to play every night, and hopefully (the team) was having a good enough season, they could start giving him more important minutes leading up to the deadline. To see if he could be trusted come the post-season.
That’s not how it’s played out. Far from it. I think they really do have to start thinking about moving him for someone who can help them now. The cap and the way the season is going, may force them to part ways… if they want to improve their blueline. You also need a team to retain, on whoever would be coming to Edmonton. That would even out the trade value in many cases. Like it would have to do, to get a player like Maatta.
It’s crazy how the Leafs and Oilers keep having these same exact problems. Goaltending, cap issues, coaching changes coming, and searching for dmen who can help them for cheap, and finding creative ways to improve their blueline.
I’ve always liked Broberg’s skill set. I’ve also always questioned his compete level some though. Not only his compete level during a game, but even competing to be a better player. You expect your young players to work on things over the summer and arrive to camp, better than they ended the previous season. It’s never been the case with him. That’s probably why I’d be more willing to pull the plug at this point. I hate trading away young dmen, but if they want to improve this team, they might have to.
They’re in a messed up situation. They don’t have many options to make this team better. They have to be creative to do so. They also may have to make a trade, giving away a player they don’t really want to, for a lessor price than anyone would normally think… because they’ll need that retention.
