Oilers GM Stan Bowman denies narrative about offer sheets from St. Louis Blues

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Liam McCormick
September 9, 2024 (3:16 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers were put in an incredibly difficult position when they were faced with two offer sheets from the St. Louis Blues, and GM Stan Bowman recently opened up about the situation.

Given how rare offer sheets are and the nature of stealing away a young player, some believe that the move was a personal slight against Stan Bowman or the Edmonton Oilers. In a new interview with Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic, Bowman showed no hard feelings toward Blues GM Doug Armstrong at all.

»No, I think things are fine. I've known Doug a long time. He's a very bright guy, a good person. I think sometimes more is made out of that. He was trying to do what he could to make his team better. Once you get past the surprise of it, and you then roll your sleeves up and get to work on what you want to do, I don't think there's any value in holding grudges.»
- Stan Bowman

The Oilers are obviously still going to be a cup contending team without Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway on the roster this season. Although they may develop into quality players, right now, the contracts the Blues signed them to were vast overpayments for relatively unproven players. Stan Bowman actually did recognize that fact, and that's perhaps the key reason why the Oilers let their RFAs walk.

»The players can probably grow into those deals, but as of today, they're way above their actual performance.»
- Stan Bowman

Earlier in the offseason, Blues GM Doug Armstrong also shut down the narrative that the offer sheets were a personal shot at Edmonton. Armstrong even said that he'd have made the offer sheets if his mother was GM of the Oilers.

The Blues signed Philip Broberg for $4.58M and Dylan Holloway for $2.29M, both for two years. Despite being promising players that broke out in last year's playoffs, it's a clear overpayment for two players that have less than 100 regular season games played. Especially when the Oilers are asking veterans to take pay cuts, they couldn't cave to these high asking prices for the young players.

The Oilers have added more veteran players in free agency and a number of young players in trade that could be called up from some NHL ice time. They've also acquired some draft picks and freed up cap space by not matching these offers, and will have the ability to make an impact trade at some point this season. It may be tough to see these two players go on, especially if they have good careers, but the Oilers can make it alright if they win the cup this season.

Source for Bowman interview: Blues GM Doug Armstrong on rare offer-sheet success story, Stan Bowman and more