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Oilers Don't Match - Holloway and Broberg are Blues |
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Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, Xavier Bourgault, and Reid Schaefer. What do they all have in common? They are the four first round picks made during the Ken Holland era and none of them will be impact players... at least not for the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers announced this morning that they will not match the offer sheets placed by Doug Armstrong and the St. Louis Blues meaning Broberg and Holloway are now Blues. Edmonton will receive a 2nd and 3rd round pick this season as compensation. The Oilers also made a separate trade with St. Louis this morning as Edmonton acquired unsigned college defenseman Paul Fischier and a 3rd round pick in 2028 for future considerations. It appears this was additional incentive given by St Louis for Edmonton to not match.
I know this move shocks a number of Oilers fans but the writing was on the wall over the past 24 hours that this was going to be the play. Edmonton replaced Holloway, a young talented fast forward who hasn't scored much in the NHL with Podkolzin, a young talented fast forward who hasn't scored much in the NHL. And traded Broberg, a young defender they expected to play top 4 minutes on the right side with Emberson, a young defender they expected to play top 4 minutes on the right side.
This isn't to sell either former Oiler short. I really liked Holloway's game and thought he was beginning to find his stride, particularly in the playoffs next to Draisaitl and I believe he has more upside today than Podkolzin does. The issue with Holloway is his lack of actual scoring particularly playing lower in the lineup, which is exactly where he would be this season in Edmonton.
Broberg is another story because he remains such an unknown. Maybe this kid becomes a legitimate top 4 or top pairing defender, or maybe he is a third pairing player. We simply do not know enough about him. He played well in the playoffs but also was heavily sheltered in his minutes. Edmonton simply did not have the cap space to commit to the player in the way the Blues were offering.
Back to the topic of cap space, this is the reason why the Edmonton Oilers did not match:
Edmonton could have signed these players and put Kane on LTIR and been cap compliant, but you can only accrue cap space during the season if you are cap compliant before the LTIR move. 4.4 million at the deadline is a top 4 right shot defenseman. The Oilers went for cap flexibility and the ability to sign players in the season if needed as opposed to betting on their young home grown talent to improve. It's a tough decision but honestly I do believe this is the better decision.
As of today, here is the main Oilers roster:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Skinner-Drasaitl-Arvidsson
Podkolzin-Henrique-Brown
Janmark-Ryan-Perry
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Kulak-Brown/Stecher
The forward core as a whole is stronger than the one that went to the Stanley Cup Finals but the bottom six is slower and still lacks a real offensive presence. The defense is certainly worse than it was last season. That being said, Edmonton ran Nurse and Ceci as their second pairing for most of last season and the numbers suggest that Emberson can play this role far better than Ceci ever managed.
Edmonton may make another small move, perhaps adding a guy like a Justin Schultz or Tyson Barrie on a league minimum deal for depth. Right now, I would simply go into camp with this roster and prospects like Matt Savoie and Max Wanner and upgrade at the deadline. This team is more than good enough to make the post-season and win plenty of games through the season. I don't care about the opening night roster anywhere close to what the Round 1Game 1 is.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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