Oilers will have to trade multiple players to match offer sheets
The Edmonton Oilers are in an extremely tough position after the St. Louis Blues signed both Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to offer sheet contracts.
Dylan Holloway signed a two year contract for $2.29M a year, and Philip Broberg for two years at $4.58M. If the Edmonton Oilers don't match the offer sheets, they would receive a third round pick for Holloway and a second round pick for Broberg. The team has 7 days to make a decision.
This is an extremely aggressive move by the Oilers who were already pressed against the salary cap. The Oilers are currently $350K over the cap, and were hoping to sign both RFAs to contracts in the $1M range. The team surely wants to keep both of these promising young players, but paying such steep raises this early wasn't part of the plan.
Before the season, the Oilers need to be salary cap compliant. If they want to match both offers, they will need to clear around $7M in cap space, which will require trading multiple roster players - likely all three of Brett Kulak, Cody Ceci, and Evander Kane. Trades for the two defenceman may be possible but won't clear enough cap space.
Evander Kane will reportedly be injured for much of the upcoming season, and will likely be impossible to trade. He also has a no-move clause and likely doesn't want to leave Edmonton with a shot at the Stanley Cup. Not only that, but the Oilers need to be salary cap compliant before they can place Kane on the LTIR.
For this reason, the Oilers are in an extremely vulnerable spot with these offer sheets. It's very likely that they will lose at least one of Broberg or Holloway, considering the unlikelihood of trading an injured Evander Kane. The Oilers may make a move to keep Philip Broberg, who many believe could develop into a high-end defenceman after his breakout play in the playoffs last season.
Neither Broberg or Holloway have put up impressive offensive statistics yet in their career, but both appear to be NHL ready players with room to develop into impact players - and the Blues are making a huge commitment based on that scouting report.
If the Oilers really believe in these players, or even one of them, they'll be making a trade within the next seven days to keep them on the roster. Due to their cap constraints and where they value these players, perhaps the Oilers let both players walk too.
Source for contract info: Elliotte Friedman
Blues offer sheet Broberg at 2 x $4.58M and Holloway at 2 x $2.29M
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Oilers will keep either RFA? | ||
| Keep Philip Broberg | 23 | 19.7 % |
| Keep Dylan Holloway | 41 | 35 % |
| Keep both | 23 | 19.7 % |
| Let both walk | 30 | 25.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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