Blues tender offer sheets to Oilers’ Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway

A surprising move might force the hand of the reigning Western Conference champions to make a decision.

On Tuesday, the St. Louis Blues tendered offer sheets to Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway, both of which are restricted free agents.

Per the guidelines of section 10.3 of the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement, the Oilers have seven days to match the offer sheets.

The Blues offered Broberg a two-year contract with a cap hit of $4,580,917, while Holloway’s deal is also for two years, with an AAV of $2,290,457. If the Oilers do not match the offer sheets, they will receive a second-round pick for Broberg and a third for Holloway. Under the rules, if both players were paid one more dollar on their AAVs, the compensation would have been bumped up.

Coincidentally, the Blues made a move earlier in the day, sending their second-round pick in in the 2025 NHL Draft, along with a fifth-rounder in 2026, to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In return, St. Louis received a third-round pick in 2025 and a second-rounder in 2026. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong made the move in order to have the draft capital ready in case Edmonton doesn’t match.

Broberg’s tenure with the Oilers has been rocky. The eighth-overall pick from the 2019 draft has played 81 games with the team over the past three seasons, but spent most of the 2023-24 campaign with Edmonton’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. This past December, the team granted the Swedish blueliner permission to seek a trade, though nothing happened by the trade deadline. Over his time in the NHL, Broberg has scored two goals and 13 points, with a plus/minus of -5. He did play in 10 playoff games this past spring, as the Oilers made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

Holloway played a little bit more last season with Edmonton, scoring six goals and nine points in 38 games. In 25 games in last year’s playoffs, the 22-year-old notched five goals and seven points. The former Wisconsin Badger joined the Oilers organization during the 2021-22 season, after being taken by the team 14th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. In 89 career games, Holloway has notched nine goals and nine assists.

While the Oilers are currently over the cap, they might receive some relief prior to the start of the season, as it has been reported that Evander Kane might require surgery, and would start the 2024-25 campaign on long-term injured reserve.

While it is rare to see one team offer sheet two players from the same team, offer sheets have become something worth talking about in recent years, particularly with the Carolina Hurricanes. In July 2019, the Montreal Canadiens tendered Sebastian Aho to a five-year, $8.454 million AAV contract. That deal was matched by Carolina, as Aho has been with the team ever since. Two years later, the Hurricanes tendered Jesperi Kotkaniemi, then with the Canadiens. Montreal did not match the offer sheet, as Kotkaniemi went to Carolina on a one-year, $6.1 million deal, while the Habs were compensated with a first- and third-round draft pick.