Oilers President Reveals The Real Reason Why Edmonton Lost Philip Broberg to an Offer Sheet
The Edmonton Oilers took a major blow to their roster by losing Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to offer sheets last summer, and now, President Jeff Jackson opened up about how it affected the team in a new interview.
Speaking to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Athletic, Jackson admitted that the Oilers poorly handled the development of both players that led to a lack of trust between the parties.
I think ultimately it comes down to the player just probably not having trust in the organization.
- Jeff Jackson
- Jeff Jackson
The deteriorated relationship primarily applies to Philip Broberg, who did file a trade request, but it surely applies to Holloway too.
Oilers Botched Development of Broberg and Holloway Ruined Relationship
The Oilers never gave these players ample time and resources to properly develop, and they did what was best for them by leaving the team for opportunity elsewhere.
The practical reality is when you send a player to the minors for the third or fourth time in three years, they're not in the frame of mind to sign an extension at that point We didn't have a player development department, per se back then. There wasn't a plan»
- Jeff Jackson
- Jeff Jackson
The Oilers bounced Holloway and Broberg between the AHL and NHL for years, never giving them proper ice time to develop anywhere. When they finally did break into the NHL during last year's playoffs, it only increased their chances of leaving for more opportunity in the offseason.
Recently, General Manager Stan Bowman even said that he was surprised by the offer sheets, which also suggests a failure from the Oilers to speak to their agents.
Jackson and the Oilers are going to learn from this costly mistake moving forward, which a much heavier focus on prospect development and clearly communicating with them.
»We really have to buckle down from this point forward and make sure that players are developing and entering the team at the right time, they know where they fit, they know what their development plan is»
- Jeff Jackson
- Jeff Jackson
That should be a direct message to a few Oilers prospects who seem to be on the cusp of making the NHL, including Matthew Savoie and Noah Philp.
It seems the Oilers are taking a more patient approach, and when they're brought up, they play a long stretch of games instead of a few before being sent back to the AHL.
Losing Broberg and Holloway may sting the Oilers for years to come - particularly Broberg, who's looking to be breaking out as a star player this season. Edmonton has long been behind in player development, and it's great they're now recognizing that fact and correcting it.
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Oilers made a mistake by letting Broberg go on the offer sheet? | ||
| Yes | 98 | 65.8 % |
| No | 38 | 25.5 % |
| See Results | 13 | 8.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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