Blues Purge OIlers of young talent via successful offer sheet
The St. Louis Blues have signed forward Dylan Holloway and defenceman Philip Broberg to two-year contracts.
The restricted free agents were members of the Edmonton Oilers following the 2023-24 season and signed offer sheets with St. Louis last week. On Tuesday - seven days after the Blues' intentions were made known - Edmonton announced it would not be matching the contracts handed out by Blues' front office staff.
In using the full seven-day period to best better position itself for upcoming season, Edmonton sorted out its roster, making two trades in the process, but ultimately decided the club could not afford to match the dollar value associated with either contract. With both Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard due for extensions, the deals awarded by St. Louis would certainly handcuff Oilers' management.
Officially, Broberg was given a two-year, $4,580,917 million deal from St. Louis, while Holloway signed a two-year, $2,290,457 contract. Both deals were one singular dollar below the cost associated with compensation when teams successfully swoop in and purge players by way of offer sheets.
The Oilers were given a second round pick in exchange for the signing of Broberg, and a third round pick for the Holloway contract.
In a sign of good faith, the Blues and Oilers also announced a separate trade on Tuesday, to which St. Louis also handed over a 2028 third round selection and unsigned 2023 fifth round selection Paul Fischer in exchange for 'future considerations' - or what most are calling 'past crimes'.
During the past week, Edmonton shipped off defenceman Cody Ceci and a 2025 third round pick to San Jose for young defenceman Ty Emberson, while also moving a 2025 fourth rounder to Vancouver for forward Vasily Podkolzin. The pair of Emberson and Podkolzin will likely serve as Broberg and Holloway's replacements.
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