Confirmed Signing with Link: [STL] F Dylan Holloway (2 years, $2.290457M AAV) and D Philip Broberg (2 years, $4.580917M AAV) sign offer sheets with the Blues (not matched)

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Kulak is still a good Dman and a LHD. I wouldn't be surprised if Oilers don't match Holloway, and then trade Kulak and Blues 3rd back to them and thus they can be cap complaint without using LTIR, allowing them to upgrade during the trade deadline.

 

[seanlinden]

Put me in the topic of conventional wisdom, reading in that they're going to match Broberg and let Holloway walk.

If that is indeed the case, it's honestly not a bad bit of business for Stan Bowman to get himself out of the mess that St. Louis put him in. It only costs him a 3rd to dump Ceci.

I got the sense that the way the offer sheets were designed, was hoping to use Holloway as a means to ensure they get Broberg; especially with the rough state of St. Louis blueline and reasonable state of their forward group.

Now, if Broberg doesn't sieze the opportunity this year, this could turn out really rough as you're stuck with him until mid August.

It's also a pretty solid win for Broberg (even if he's going to come off as very selfish). Getting rid of Ceci helps open up a spot in Edmonton's top 6.

That being said, still a pretty painful move overall by St. Louis.... had this not happened, I think you could probably have seen Broberg signed $2m x 2, and Holloway $1.25m x 2.

The net effect of this deal, instead of having Broberg, Holloway and Ceci at a combined $6.5. You have Broberg, Emberson and Podkolzin at basically the same. From a draft pick perspective, you gain a 3rd from St. Louis, you lose your own 3rd and Ottawa's 4th; so are probably about even there. There is of course the fun part which is that Broberg takes $2.5m of the money that was needed for Draisaitl / Bouchard.

 

[TS Quint]

Does it matter? If Edmonton had better players than Ceci? They’d play them right.

You show me which guys Edmonton added this offseason that are better than Ceci. Is it Joshua Brown or Troy Stecher? Which of those two is going to take those 20 defensive minutes a night and play better than Ceci?

Please explain? As such. He plays therefor he is or at least he’s expected to be. Has to be.

If they lose Ceci… do those minutes go to Kulak? So they make the 35 year old Ekholm play more? More Nurse? Wear those guys out? Do they make Bouchard play more defensive minutes?

Looks like no one needs your straw men now. Don't worry, to your shock and surprise they will find someone else to be as good as their 7th defenseman. Literally anyone. But I'm sure you will tell us all about it next year. I only hope you will site me as your Sage.

 

[JKG33]

I wondered why St. Louis did these offer sheets at the same time. I recall when San Jose did this to Chicago with Hjalmarsson and Niemi, they staggered the offer sheets so they weren't active at the same time.

If Broberg was indeed the #1 target, and also who it looks like Edmonton will keep, St Louis would've been wise to send the Holloway offer first and the Broberg one a week later, with the hope Edmonton matches on Holloway and then can't afford Broberg

 

[tfriede2]

I wondered why St. Louis did these offer sheets at the same time. I recall when San Jose did this to Chicago with Hjalmarsson and Niemi, they staggered the offer sheets so they weren't active at the same time.

If Broberg was indeed the #1 target, and also who it looks like Edmonton will keep, St Louis would've been wise to send the Holloway offer first and the Broberg one a week later, with the hope Edmonton matches on Holloway and then can't afford Broberg

Because nothing would stop Edmonton from just re-signing Broberg while St. Louis waits it out. Then there goes your plan.

 

[Lunatik]

Okay, so I know it's a week to match, but does that 7 days start the day they were signed, or the next day. Like is it tomorrow or Tuesday the Oilers have to make the decision official

 

[Oilslick941611]

Okay, so I know it's a week to match, but does that 7 days start the day they were signed, or the next day. Like is it tomorrow or Tuesday the Oilers have to make the decision official

Tuesday

 

[theVladiator]

Thanks. Well, I’m really curious now with Holloway if they will match or not. If Kane is going to be a problem either way if he is not LTIR, would make sense to just keep Holloway. Unless there is another trade that can be made that makes a “Holloway-sized” hole viable for keeping a healthy Kane.

If Holloway is kept, EDM is 2M over the cap when Kane comes back, and that's with just 20man roster. This deficit can't be fixed by trading Kulak, would be just 0.2M short. There is also a risk of losing one or more of Ryan/Stecher/Podkolzin/JBrown to waivers. Will have to trade Kane (would he waive NMC? would anyone want him?) or Arvidsson to get under the cap.

Furthermore, I think Edmonton tipped their hand by trading for Podkolzin. They aren't going to keep Holloway. If they were planning on keeping Holloway, they really would not have much use for Podkolzin.

 

[JKG33]

Because nothing would stop Edmonton from just re-signing Broberg while St. Louis waits it out. Then there goes your plan.

You say that as if it weren't already mid August when these offer sheets hit.

If it were that simple why weren't they signed before the offer sheets?

 

[BleedBlue14]

How about their body of work in the NHL overall?

https://x.com/i/web/status/1558871381990936577

F Holloway. He chose bank over trying to win, and was a willing stooge. It'd be funny if Edmonton now threatens to match for Broberg unless St. Louis sweetens the pie by giving up a 1st for a mid prospect.

St. Louis isn’t negatively impacted if Edmonton matches both. Broberg isn’t a star, if I had to guess Armstrong tried trading for Broberg and Edmonton wanted more than a 2nd or didn’t want to move him. So Armstrong said sure and took the chance at getting him for a 2nd at an inflated cap hit.

I don’t see any world where matching Broberg is smart for Edmonton. In all reality it’s very likely Broberg is just a bottom pairing defenseman and there isn’t another level in there that St Louis is taking the risk on.

He has done nothing to be worth a 1st and in all reality I’m not sure he should be worth a 2nd. But we’ve drafted 10 players in the top 3 rounds over the past two drafts and have had something like 8 1sts in the last 5 years, most of which have turned out pretty good. Our development team seems to turn out pretty decent NHL players. We just had a large gap in defenseman in upper rounds as of late making our d group old. We need a change, this is a cheap way to take a chance. If he gets matched, POJ still fits the bill.

The exciting thing is even though we’re in this re-whatever, our front office is very open to spending money to get it right. That’s not a gaurantee for mid market teams.

 

[Cancuks]

Matching Broberg at that salary doesn't make much sense. Need to pay $10 million to Bouchard next season if he repeats last season. Waay to much cap going to 4 dmen with Draisaitl also to sign.

 

[nerevarine]

St. Louis isn’t negatively impacted if Edmonton matches both. Broberg isn’t a star, if I had to guess Armstrong tried trading for Broberg and Edmonton wanted more than a 2nd or didn’t want to move him. So Armstrong said sure and took the chance at getting him for a 2nd at an inflated cap hit.

I don’t see any world where matching Broberg is smart for Edmonton. In all reality it’s very likely Broberg is just a bottom pairing defenseman and there isn’t another level in there that St Louis is taking the risk on.

He has done nothing to be worth a 1st and in all reality I’m not sure he should be worth a 2nd. But we’ve drafted 10 players in the top 3 rounds over the past two drafts and have had something like 8 1sts in the last 5 years, most of which have turned out pretty good. Our development team seems to turn out pretty decent NHL players. We just had a large gap in defenseman in upper rounds as of late making our d group old. We need a change, this is a cheap way to take a chance. If he gets matched, POJ still fits the bill.

The exciting thing is even though we’re in this re-whatever, our front office is very open to spending money to get it right. That’s not a gaurantee for mid market teams.

Solid post and agree, I'm, thinking/hoping edmonton is still letting both walk and the ceci trade is just to lower cap for Kane not being on LTIR all season.

 

[McBooya42]

St. Louis isn’t negatively impacted if Edmonton matches both. Broberg isn’t a star, if I had to guess Armstrong tried trading for Broberg and Edmonton wanted more than a 2nd or didn’t want to move him. So Armstrong said sure and took the chance at getting him for a 2nd at an inflated cap hit.

I don’t see any world where matching Broberg is smart for Edmonton. In all reality it’s very likely Broberg is just a bottom pairing defenseman and there isn’t another level in there that St Louis is taking the risk on.

He has done nothing to be worth a 1st and in all reality I’m not sure he should be worth a 2nd. But we’ve drafted 10 players in the top 3 rounds over the past two drafts and have had something like 8 1sts in the last 5 years, most of which have turned out pretty good. Our development team seems to turn out pretty decent NHL players. We just had a large gap in defenseman in upper rounds as of late making our d group old. We need a change, this is a cheap way to take a chance. If he gets matched, POJ still fits the bill.

The exciting thing is even though we’re in this re-whatever, our front office is very open to spending money to get it right. That’s not a gaurantee for mid market teams.

Your team really needs some LHD that are good but young. That's why they went after Broberg (I get it). Edmonton can use him on the bottom pairing on the left side until Ek's contract is up in two years - he'll be 36. It's an excellent opportunity for Broberg to take the reigns and see if he can be that top pairing guy that some in the org think he can be when the time comes.

By making these trades, and making sure they have the space for him, they are letting him know they have confidence in him and want him to be part of the picture moving forward. This appears to have been part of the problem in the past and why he was looking to be traded. Now we have new management and a new coach, so maybe things can work out for the better for everyone involved.

 

[ddawg1950]

More so meaningless because they are essentially depth players, no one is going to remember them on a cup winning team.

Name on a cup which doesn’t pay the bills, earn millions above your expected salary that sets you up for life.

Winning a cup is far more meaningful to established players like McDavid and Draisaitl.

No. You're wrong.

 

[Stelmacki]

Your team really needs some LHD that are good but young. That's why they went after Broberg (I get it). Edmonton can use him on the bottom pairing on the left side until Ek's contract is up in two years - he'll be 36. It's an excellent opportunity for Broberg to take the reigns and see if he can be that top pairing guy that some in the org think he can be when the time comes.

By making these trades, and making sure they have the space for him, they are letting him know they have confidence in him and want him to be part of the picture moving forward. This appears to have been part of the problem in the past and why he was looking to be traded. Now we have new management and a new coach, so maybe things can work out for the better for everyone involved.

Yes, but they don’t need it RIGHT NOW. Armstrong is trying to take advantage of Edmonton’s cap troubles, not build a team around Phillip Broberg. He would be a nice piece, but he’s not the missing piece.

Also, Broberg might not want to stay on the team that kept him in the bottom pairing for the next 2 years.

 

[McBooya42]

Yes, but they don’t need it RIGHT NOW. Armstrong is trying to take advantage of Edmonton’s cap troubles, not build a team around Phillip Broberg. He would be a nice piece, but he’s not the missing piece.

Fair enough. Oiler fans have been all over the place with this, as no one wants to lose a home grown D who projects to be a top 4 D as a minimum. He's been a bit of a slow developer that seems to have finally made that step, so it would suck to lose him.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Your team really needs some LHD that are good but young. That's why they went after Broberg (I get it). Edmonton can use him on the bottom pairing on the left side until Ek's contract is up in two years - he'll be 36. It's an excellent opportunity for Broberg to take the reigns and see if he can be that top pairing guy that some in the org think he can be when the time comes.

By making these trades, and making sure they have the space for him, they are letting him know they have confidence in him and want him to be part of the picture moving forward. This appears to have been part of the problem in the past and why he was looking to be traded. Now we have new management and a new coach, so maybe things can work out for the better for everyone involved.

This is my opinion, but Edmonton would be best suited allowing St Louis to take Broberg and Holloway. It allows them cap flexibility once Kane comes back and it gives them picks to move at the deadline to address needs. It also allows them to run a full 23 man roster for the beginning of the season.

If you match Broberg, you are stuck to a shortened roster, and you are also pigeon-holed into trading someone most likely Kane, if even possible once he returns. There's the outside chance that they know something within Kane's medical diagnosis that gives them an idea that he may not return this year. In that event, I could see justification for matching Holloway but still not Kane. They have to move Kane if they match Broberg. Not for this season, but for next offseason. I wish CapFriendly were still a thing because PuckPedia is kind of messy looking at projections. But from what I see they have 14 players signed next year and 24M in cap space. That is potentially enough to sign Bouchard and Draisaitl to extensions. They're going to have to cut bait with somebody but they are also riddled with NMCs and trade protection for next offseason, which very likely allows Draisaitl to hit the UFA market.

This is all moot if Draisaitl isn't in the future plans, but I find it hard to believe any organization would prioritize Broberg and Holloway over Bouchard or Draisaitl.

They could probably move Kulak in a similar manner to the way they moved Ceci next offseason, which they will likely have to do anyways.

TLDR; even with this cap space it is a very risky game matching Broberg because you cannot trade him until August of next offseason. By that time you're either putting yourself at risk for a Bouchard match (Very unlikely given the compensation it'll likely take) or you're allowing Draisaitl to hit the open market. It's not impossible to make it work, but they are in a very tough spot if they do match Broberg at the beginning of this season and next offseason.

Yes, but they don’t need it RIGHT NOW. Armstrong is trying to take advantage of Edmonton’s cap troubles, not build a team around Phillip Broberg. He would be a nice piece, but he’s not the missing piece.

Also, Broberg might not want to stay on the team that kept him in the bottom pairing for the next 2 years.

Broberg doesn't have a choice where he goes here. Regardless of where he goes he's hit a major payday with very little NHL success. If he wants a prolonged career he is going to have to earn it, but he at least has a very nice fallback nest-egg if things don't work out now.

 

[unicornBLOOD]

my prediction... they let both walk. Hope that one or two of Podkolzin, Savoie, Lavoie, etc end up making the team over the next year or 2 to help replace Holloway. As for Broberg, he's just too big of a gamble (combination of $$$, inexperience, and him being LD) to be the right fit for the Oiler's biggest hole which is 2nd pairing RD.

I'd sign Barrie to a 1 year deal at 1 million. Then be looking to find the right upgrade at 2nd pairing RD as soon as they can find the right guy/contract.

 

[McBooya42]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825377635645653365

 

[Arpeggio]

This is my opinion, but Edmonton would be best suited allowing St Louis to take Broberg and Holloway. It allows them cap flexibility once Kane comes back and it gives them picks to move at the deadline to address needs. It also allows them to run a full 23 man roster for the beginning of the season.

If you match Broberg, you are stuck to a shortened roster, and you are also pigeon-holed into trading someone most likely Kane, if even possible once he returns. There's the outside chance that they know something within Kane's medical diagnosis that gives them an idea that he may not return this year. In that event, I could see justification for matching Holloway but still not Kane. They have to move Kane if they match Broberg. Not for this season, but for next offseason. I wish CapFriendly were still a thing because PuckPedia is kind of messy looking at projections. But from what I see they have 14 players signed next year and 24M in cap space. That is potentially enough to sign Bouchard and Draisaitl to extensions. They're going to have to cut bait with somebody but they are also riddled with NMCs and trade protection for next offseason, which very likely allows Draisaitl to hit the UFA market.

This is all moot if Draisaitl isn't in the future plans, but I find it hard to believe any organization would prioritize Broberg and Holloway over Bouchard or Draisaitl.

They could probably move Kulak in a similar manner to the way they moved Ceci next offseason, which they will likely have to do anyways.

TLDR; even with this cap space it is a very risky game matching Broberg because you cannot trade him until August of next offseason. By that time you're either putting yourself at risk for a Bouchard match (Very unlikely given the compensation it'll likely take) or you're allowing Draisaitl to hit the open market. It's not impossible to make it work, but they are in a very tough spot if they do match Broberg at the beginning of this season and next offseason.



Broberg doesn't have a choice where he goes here. Regardless of where he goes he's hit a major payday with very little NHL success. If he wants a prolonged career he is going to have to earn it, but he at least has a very nice fallback nest-egg if things don't work out now.

I don't think they are in a very rough spot. They'll let Skinner go, likely lose a couple of more expensive depth forwards, and all of that money will go to Draisaitl and Bouchard's new contracts. Then the following season, Kane comes off the books, as well as I believe Ekholm? Leaving them plenty of room to re-sign McDavid.

Their current window to win is definitely the next two seasons. However, I imagine the idea behind trading for guys like Savoie, Jarventie, and Podkolzin is that they'll need to replace the forwards that either age out of being good players or are too expensive to re-sign. They obviously think Broberg is going to be a stud, and will replace Ekholm as he ages out, while Bouchard is still in his prime. Holloway, while a decent prospect, is not as irreplaceable as Broberg, if you believe that one has second line winger potential, and the other has top pairing potential (which I believe the Oilers think he does).

 

[McBooya42]

This is my opinion, but Edmonton would be best suited allowing St Louis to take Broberg and Holloway. It allows them cap flexibility once Kane comes back and it gives them picks to move at the deadline to address needs. It also allows them to run a full 23 man roster for the beginning of the season.

If you match Broberg, you are stuck to a shortened roster, and you are also pigeon-holed into trading someone most likely Kane, if even possible once he returns. There's the outside chance that they know something within Kane's medical diagnosis that gives them an idea that he may not return this year. In that event, I could see justification for matching Holloway but still not Kane. They have to move Kane if they match Broberg. Not for this season, but for next offseason. I wish CapFriendly were still a thing because PuckPedia is kind of messy looking at projections. But from what I see they have 14 players signed next year and 24M in cap space. That is potentially enough to sign Bouchard and Draisaitl to extensions. They're going to have to cut bait with somebody but they are also riddled with NMCs and trade protection for next offseason, which very likely allows Draisaitl to hit the UFA market.

This is all moot if Draisaitl isn't in the future plans, but I find it hard to believe any organization would prioritize Broberg and Holloway over Bouchard or Draisaitl.

They could probably move Kulak in a similar manner to the way they moved Ceci next offseason, which they will likely have to do anyways.

TLDR; even with this cap space it is a very risky game matching Broberg because you cannot trade him until August of next offseason. By that time you're either putting yourself at risk for a Bouchard match (Very unlikely given the compensation it'll likely take) or you're allowing Draisaitl to hit the open market. It's not impossible to make it work, but they are in a very tough spot if they do match Broberg at the beginning of this season and next offseason.



Broberg doesn't have a choice where he goes here. Regardless of where he goes he's hit a major payday with very little NHL success. If he wants a prolonged career he is going to have to earn it, but he at least has a very nice fallback nest-egg if things don't work out now.

Once again:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825377635645653365

Nah. If they trade Kulak and sign Barrie for cheap (who's played well with Nurse in the past), then we'll be fine even when Kane returns from LTIR.

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Barrie
Broberg - Stetcher

I'm actually ok with that.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Yeah, There's no way Browny is the odd man out here.

EDIT: Wait which Brown?

Josh. He's a pylon anyway.

 

[Stelmacki]

Once again:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825377635645653365

Nah. If they trade Kulak and sign Barrie for cheap (who's played well with Nurse in the past), then we'll be fine even when Kane returns from LTIR.

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Barrie
Broberg - Stetcher

I'm actually ok with that.

where does Emberson fit in?

 

[BleedBlue14]

Once again:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825377635645653365

Nah. If they trade Kulak and sign Barrie for cheap (who's played well with Nurse in the past), then we'll be fine even when Kane returns from LTIR.

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Barrie
Broberg - Stetcher

I'm actually ok with that.

Yes they can, I am aware they can. But if they do and Puckpedia's math is correct, they'll have 24m to sign Bouchard and Draisaitl and only have 20m to do so while also only having 16 players under contract. They can move out Arvidsson and or Henrique to help, but they're still going to have a depth issue. It's certainly not impossible, but I can't see that keeping those two players is worth being up strapped on the cap and having to pay to move Kane, and Kulak. You will most likely be able to find a postive value trade for Henrique/Arvidsson if you get there.

It's not that it's impossible, it's that it could be an absolute nightmare with multiple scenarios. You'd be putting almost all of your chips on two young players who haven't been able to solidify a spot at the NHL level.

 

[Blanick]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825377635645653365

I imagine that they are going to match one or possibly both. I have been of the opinion from the beginning that them making the moves to match this year wasn't going to be that difficult and they have done just that. I feel like the true danger they put themselves in, if they choose to match both, comes on July 1st 2025. They have nearly 70 mil already committed to the cap next year not including the massive contracts that Draisaitl and Bouchard are going to command. It is not going to leave them with a lot of money to replace their other UFAs with quality depth. It could also open them up to really bad scenario if it gets to July 1st and Bouch and Drai aren't extended yet. That is the only lingering thought that makes me think they may not choose to match.