Questions about Ekholm's future may dictate Oilers course of action

According to Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal, this may lead the Oilers to consider matching the offer sheet for Philip Broberg, and let Dylan Holloway walk. The Oilers and many other NHL teams now see Broberg as a future top four defenceman, and he could slot in at the perfect time to replace Ekholm.

Ekholm is signed for the next two seasons at $6.25M, but will be 36 years old when the contract expires. Past that point, it'd be wise to line up a replacement for Ekholm as his game will decline with age. The Oilers had no intention of paying Broberg more than $4M next season, but it may be worth it to be able to keep him as Ekholm ages out.

Right now Ekholm is one of the most underrated defenceman in the league, and it hurts to think the Oilers have to think about his replacement after acquiring him at the trade deadline 2 years ago. In his first full year with the Oilers last season, he was a part of a dominant pairing with Evan Bouchard, and was able to play an elite two-way game. In 79 games, Ekholm scored 11 goals and 45 points, with a fantastic +47 rating.

However, the Edmonton Oilers and many other teams around the league reportedly believe that Philip Broberg could become a top pairing defenceman in the next few seasons. It would hurt to pay him $4.5M now, when he was only asking for $1.8M earlier this year, but it may hurt even more to let Broberg go. The Oilers are cap-strapped, but still have a few days to make some moves to clear space and match the offer sheets to their RFAs. If they are concerned about Ekholm's age slowing down his game, they may want to change their course of action to keep Broberg.