Dylan Holloway criticizes Oilers for treatment during offer sheet situation

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Liam McCormick
September 1, 2024 (4:31 PM)

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Oilers fans may have expected to lose Philip Broberg after the offer sheet came down, but it came as a surprise that Dylan Holloway was willing to leave the organization.

In a new interview with Andy Strickland, Holloway opened up on the experience of leaving Edmonton, and criticized the Oilers for their handling of it. Holloway said that his camp had been in constant communication with the Oilers looking for a deal, but never had his ask met, and instead went with the offer sheet. It was tough to leave behind his home province and his teammates, but is excited for the opportunity that the St. Louis Blues will be able to give him.

«We knew about the offer sheet before we had any negotiations with Edmonton, which was kind of weird. We were trying to get a deal done. I don't think we were asking for anything crazy at all. If anything we were very upfront with Edmonton the whole time, even about the whole offer sheet. We explained, �Hey, this was an option for us. Can we get a deal?' And it was weird the way they handled it. I felt I had no other option but to sign the offer sheet.»

Holloway signed with the St. Louis Blues for $2.29M over the next two seasons, and the Oilers acquired a third round draft pick in compensation. He's only played 89 career regular season games, but looked great in 25 playoff games last spring. Scoring still isn't a real part of his game, only notching 5 goals and 2 assists in the playoffs.

It's tough to lose Holloway, being one of their few drafted and developed players who was just able to break onto the NHL roster. However, the Oilers found adequate replacement players for both Holloway and Philip Broberg, and couldn't justify paying the younger players bigger raises while asking veterans to take pay cuts.

The Oilers made the right move by declining to match the offer sheets, taking the salary cap space and draft picks, and now are primed to make a big trade in season before the playoffs. Really, now they'll just be hoping that Broberg and Holloway don't develop into star players - only then will it really hurt to see them go.

Source for Holloway Stats: PuckPedia - Dylan Holloway