What the Edmonton Oilers Offer Philip Broberg and Their Need for Better Ways to Improve

TSN: Ryan Risaug on the Edmonton Oilers contract offers to Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway before they signed the offer sheets.

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“Some information we know. The Oilers entered into negotiations with Broberg before these offer sheets took place. Two years at $1.1 million was their offer, according to Broberg’s agent Darren Ferris.

Which also tells me there were plenty of other teams ready to go with this offer sheet strategy against the Oilers. So if it wasn’t the Blues, it sounds like it was another team.

Why are these players exposed if they are so important to the organization? That’s a fair question. I think there were mistakes in the way the Oilers handled these two prospects. I think when you’re dealing with first round picks and top prospects, they need to see a clear plan in place.

If they are in the National Hockey League, they need to get minutes. If they are in the American Hockey League, they need to get big minutes. There must be a very clear development path for players like these. And I think that at times, this Oiler organization has failed to do that, especially with Philip Broberg, who very often, last season, was listed as the seventh defenseman who got little or no minutes, which led to a trade request last season.

So because of the lack of a clear development plan, I think there was a lot of frustration in Broberg’s camp, and in many ways, that’s what led them to where they are today.

No question, this hurts the Oilers from a developmental standpoint. See
we have some good players in the organization because of the trades they made this offseason, but probably in evaluating how they handle these top picks, it’s something this team needs to do.