Edmonton Oilers finally calling up prospect after trade request

After last night's loss to the Canucks, Oilers writer Mark Spector revealed that he believes the team will call up Broberg for the final week of the season, which falls in line from later reports from Jason Gregor.

Earlier this season, Broberg found himself a consistent healthy scratch with the Oilers as their seventh defenceman. He requested a trade due to lack of playing time, but accepted an assignment to the Condors AHL team to get ice time to develop. Broberg has now really taken a step this year and is clearly ready to make the jump to the NHL next season. He's made great improvements with his defensive play, and has also recorded 5 goals and 34 assists in 48 games. After a rocky relationship earlier this year, Broberg is really emerging to have a future with the Oilers.

If the Oilers move off of a defenceman like Cody Ceci or Vincent Desharnais this summer, Broberg would be easily able to slot in for depth minutes next year.

As the Oilers play a brutal schedule of 5 games in the last 7 days, it's very likely that Coach Knoblauch will look to rest some defenceman like Ekholm, Nurse, and Ceci before heading into the playoffs. Calling up Broberg gives the Oilers the ability to rest up, get a look at Broberg's development, and give Broberg another taste of opportunity in the NHL.