In the end, the Edmonton Oilers’ decision not to match the offer sheets defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway received from the St. Louis Blues on Aug. 13 was much more about the future than the present.
Sure, Broberg, 23, and Holloway, 22, could have been a part of the Oilers’ success going forward, as they were in helping them reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers last season before falling one win short of their first championship since 1990. But the Oilers’ difficult choice to let the two restricted free agents join the Blues focused on a bigger picture in which they need to fit Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and, eventually, Connor McDavid into their long-term salary cap structure while also leaving the short-term flexibility to maneuver under its confines and make another run at the Cup this season.
That included having space to keep Evander Kane and his $5.125 million salary cap hit off long-term injured reserve while it’s determined whether he’ll require sports hernia surgery.
All of that would have been difficult had Edmonton matched the contracts St. Louis gave Broberg (two years, $9.16 million; $4.58 million average annual value) and Holloway (two years, $4.58 million; $2.9 million AAV). So when their week to make a decision expired on Tuesday, the Oilers opted to take the compensation from the Blues – a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft for Broberg and 2025 third-round pick for Holloway – and move on.
“It’s really not reflective of the players at all,” Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said. “I want to be clear about that. It’s not that I had any concerns about the players or anything. This came down to a business decision relative to our short term as well as long-term viability for our roster with the salary cap.”
The twin offer sheets were a big early test for Bowman after he was named Oilers GM on July 24 to replace Ken Holland, whose five-year contract expired July 1. Time will tell whether the Oilers made the right call on Broberg and Holloway, and there will undoubtedly be plenty of debate on whether they could have done anything differently before Aug. 13 to avoid being put in this position.