This in from NHL hockey insider Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, his take that Edmonton Oilers hockey boss Jeff Jackson is to blame for the St. Louis Blues’ offer sheets for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway.
Garrioch sticks the knife in deep, reporting the Oilers will have to pay a high price to get out of this situation.
Edmonton has until Tuesday to match the roughly $4.6 million per year offer that Broberg accepted and the roughly $2.3 million per year deal Holloway accepted. If Edmonton does not match, it will get a second round pick for Broberg and a third round pick for Holloway, which is far, far less than such promising young NHL players are worth.
Said Garrioch: “The Oilers are going to pay dearly one way or another for allowing Broberg and Holloway to get offer sheets. They’re either going to overpay one or both players next season, or they’ll have to cough up a high draft pick or two to get money off the books.”
The Oilers are trying to move out veteran d-man Brett Kulak and/or Cody Ceci, Garrioch reported. “But, if teams are going to make those deals, they’re going to want something extra from the Oilers to take on Ceci or Kulak’s contracts. We’re told that could be a first- or second-round pick in both scenarios because teams know they’ve got Jackson cornered.”
As for who is to blame for this situation, Garrioch said Jackson was once an agent and should have known an offer sheet was a possibility. “It’s easy for Jackson and Bowman to point the finger at former GM Ken Holland, but the reality is this is on the current Oilers regime. ..Jackson has no one to blame but himself.”
My take
1. Some provocative comments from Garrioch said, but not all of them entirely fair. For example, unless I’ve missed it, where did Jackson or new Oilers GM Stan Bowman blame Ken Holland of anyone else for this situation?
Bowman was only hired in late July, so he’s got almost nothing to do with the mess. Jackson has been in charge for a year so he bears ultimate responsibility. The buck stops with him, so to speak.
He was praised to high heavens in Oil Country for signing so many good players on bargain contracts in early July, putting the Oilers in cap trouble. Of course this new situation is his responsibility.
But Holland was GM all of last season, in charge of negotiating a new deal with Broberg, Holloway and every other player needing a new contact. Holland was also in charge of how Broberg and Holloway were handled in the organization since the day they were drafted. He must take some responsibility as well, most certainly.
In the end, though, offer sheets are rare. If the Oilers thought they might well avoid such a painful lightning strike, that’s most often what happens, right?
I have a hard time getting worked up about blaming anyone. I don’t see gross incompetence here. I put this mess more in the category of “sh*t happens” and “hard lesson learned.”
And the main issue is how to get out of this pickle, not to waste a lot of time and energy assigning blame. It’s worth discussing, but the focus should be on what to do next, not what mistakes were made.
2. Garrioch suggests that other NHL teams would be willing to take Ceci or Kulak but Edmonton would have to throw in a second or third round pick. But why would the Oilers ever do that? Kulak is a good NHL d-man on a reasonable contract. The Oilers would be loathe to move him. Other teams would like or even love to have him. It strikes me that Edmonton would be piling on with the mistakes if they included a sweetener in moving out Kulak.
As for Ceci, he’s got not so much value as Kulak, but he’s got value, as both insiders Frank Seravalli and Elliotte Friedman have made clear. Rather than include a sweetener to move him, Edmonton is far better off delaying a trade and doing so by putting Evander Kane on Long Term Injured Reserve, thus giving them needed cap space in the short term.
Kane played hurt most of last year. He was taken out of the playoffs due to injury. He’s tried to get healthy without surgery, but reportedly likely needs it now. He will likely be out for many months. This will give Edmonton time to match the Broberg and Holloway contracts, then move out players as good deals come up. Such deals will present as the regular season progresses and teams get hit hard by injury and/or losing streaks.
Maybe even the Ottawa Senators will be looking to bring in a solid veteran d-man and to pay a high price for one if that team keeps on losing big in 2024-25.
3. As for dealing with the current mess, Kane’s surgery will take off the heat and allow the Oilers to match the Broberg and Holloway deals in order to buy time.
It’s time for the Oilers to dig harder and press harder than they ever have before, and this is one of those moments when maximum resilience, wisdom and creativity will be needed.
Perhaps the best bet is something that has been much discussed by Oilers fans on-line, the idea that the Oilers can give the Blues an ultimatum: either add extra in trade for Broberg and Holloway or see their offer sheets matched.
The Blues have veteran players who can help the Oilers now. A second round and a third round pick is an insulting price for Broberg and Holloway. How about St. Louis expands and enriches the deal, with the Oilers perhaps moving one or two of Broberg and/or Holloway and getting back a useful player in return?
Make sense?
Staples on politics
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At the Cult of Hockey
STAPLES: Bombshell news of Broberg’s unhappiness in Edmonton
McCURDY: Blues going after Oilers where it hurts, trying to grab their youth and speed
STAPLES: Oilers have a trump card to play against Blues
STAPLES: Did Holland cough up the puck in failing to sign Broberg, Holloway?
McCURDY: Looking highly likely Kane will go on Injured Reserve