Former NHL GM says Oilers made major mistake in offer sheet situation

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Ryan Hall
August 24, 2024 (8:34)

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The fallout continues to spread with the news of the Edmonton Oilers not matching the offer sheets for Phillip Broberg and Dylan Holloway with one former general manager stated he would never let go of Broberg.

Former NHL general manager Brian Lawton was speaking to Oilers insider Bob Stauffer on his Oilers Daily Show to which he told staffer that he would have matched for the defenseman.

«I would never let him go,» Lawton said, speaking to Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now.

Everybody has their own opinion. I played the game. I was a forward. People always ask, �Why do you care so much about defence?' Especially a team like Edmonton that is so high-powered, but at the end of the day you've got to have good �D' to control the game. If you don't, you're dead in the water.

Lawton went further in stating that defensemen are one of the most difficult players to find and that letting go of this former first round draft pick is a mistake.

«I find defencemen to be the hardest thing to acquire in this game, and even though the story is still unwritten on Philip Broberg, he still showed some incredible poise and progress last year, and I believe that no matter what he'll be a Top 4 D in this league.»

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong had taken a stance that using the offer sheet to his advantage is one of the most underused tools that any general manager has.

He just managed to acquire two former first round draft picks with the power of money and took advantage of a team that has been facing a cap crunch for months.

The Oilers summer appeared to be a success as Oilers president Jeff Jackson made several key changes with unrestricted free agency and made the team better. But this is a disappointing end to the summer as the Oilers have several issues facing them including signing players like Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid to new deals along with becoming the oldest team in the NHL on average.

General Manager Stan Bowman has only been on the job for a few weeks but he certainly has his work cut out for him.

Source: Edmonton Journal

'I would never let him go': former NHL GM forcefully argues Edmonton Oilers should keep Philip Broberg