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Philip Broberg

Blues Activate Philip Broberg Off IR, Assign Corey Schueneman

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St. Louis Blues defender Philip Broberg has been activated off of injured reserve and is expected to return to the lineup on Saturday. Broberg has missed St. Louis’ last 12 games since suffering a lower-body injury on an awkward collision with Mitch Marner in the team’s November 2nd win over Toronto.

Broberg was the feel-good story of St. Louis’ early season. He was a buzzer-beater addition to the Blues lineup before the start of the season, with general manager Doug Armstrong successfully offer-sheeting both Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway away from the Edmonton Oilers. Broberg instantly stepped up in his new setting, recording a point in each of his first six games with the Blues. That production, and injuries to Nick Leddy and Torey Krug, were enough for Broberg to climb into a top-line role with the Blues – working his way up to averaging 20:25 in ice time before suffering his injury. He now sits with nine points through 12 games – a 70-game pace of 53 points.

It’s new signs of life for the 23-year-old Broberg who, prior to this year, many classified as the defining bust from the 2019 NHL Draft – where Edmonton selected him eighth overall. Broberg followed his draft selection with two seasons for Sweden’s Skelleftea AIK before joining the Oilers in 2021-22. He started that year in the minors, but earned a call-up after scoring 10 points in his first 14 games. Broberg recorded an assist in his NHL debut, but quickly hit a skid that carried through the end of his tenure in Edmonton. He recorded just 13 points across three seasons and 81 games with the Oilers, spending most of his time bouncing between the NHL and AHL rosters. It was a dismal start to his NHL career – making Broberg’s breakout in St. Louis all the more impressive. He’ll look to stay hot after nearly a month away, and under a new head coach – with Drew Bannister being replaced by Jim Montgomery on November 25th. Montgomery has so far led the Blues to a 2-0-0 record and 8-to-2 goal differential.

In a corresponding move, St. Louis has also assigned veteran depth defender Corey Schueneman back to the AHL. Schueneman returns to the minors after no scoring in four games. He recorded four shots on goal and seven blocked shots, but otherwise stayed quiet while rotating into the lineup with Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Schueneman already has five points in 13 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. He’s a seven-year veteran of the minor leagues, with 95 points and 257 career AHL games – and seven points in 31 appearances with the Montreal Canadiens between 2021 and 2022.

Evening Notes: Ristolainen, Broberg, Penguins

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TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that Philadelphia Flyers defender Rasmus Ristolainen is drawing a lot of interest on the NHL trade market. The 30-year-old defenseman is his fourth year with the Flyers and has two years left on his contract after this season with a cap hit of $5.1MM. Ristolainen has been playing in Philadelphia’s top four and averaging over 20 minutes a game this season, but he is likely best suited as a bottom-pairing defenseman, which isn’t ideal given his cap number.

Ristolainen hasn’t produced much offense this season with just a goal and four assists in 22 games, and his underlying numbers leave a lot to be desired. Philadelphia has controlled just 43.8% of the even-strength expected goals with Ristolainen on the ice according to Natural Stat Trick and controlled possession just 45.1% of the time (as per Hockey Reference).

In other evening notes:

  • Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports that St. Louis Blues defenseman Philip Broberg skated with the team today but is not yet ready to return to the lineup tomorrow when they take on the New Jersey Devils. Broberg was initially given a four to six-week timeline to return from his knee injury and likely won’t return to the lineup until the weekend at the earliest. The 23-year-old is in his first season with the Blues and has been very good offensively this season, posting two goals and seven assists in 12 games.
  • Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins are active in the trade market, looking for younger players who can slide into their lineup this season as well as for the long term. The Penguins have made two trades in recent weeks, one to move out 35-year-old Lars Eller, and another to bring in 23-year-old Philip Tomasino. The Penguins are in a tough spot as they can’t bottom out and go into a full rebuild with Sidney Crosby still playing at a high level, but they also don’t want to mortgage the future for a short-term fix. General manager Kyle Dubas has made several moves for former first-round picks who haven’t panned out with their previous teams, including Tamasino, Cody Glass and Jesse Puljujärvi.

Philip Broberg Out 4-6 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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Blues defenseman Philip Broberg will be sidelined for four to six weeks with the lower-body injury he sustained Saturday against the Maple Leafs, head coach Drew Bannister told reporters today, including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.

Broberg hasn’t yet landed on injured reserve. Without an open roster spot and with only one extra defenseman, Scott Perunovich, on hand before his injury, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him land there before tomorrow’s game against the Lightning or shortly after that. Given his return timeline, he’s eligible for long-term injured reserve, but the Blues already have plenty of space in their LTIR pool with Torey Krug and his $6.5MM cap hit there.

Many feared a longer-term, potentially season-ending absence for Broberg after he fell awkwardly on his right leg following a collision with Toronto star Mitch Marner. He needed help skating off the ice and clutched his right knee while lying on the ice for several minutes after the injury. However, Bannister’s announcement aligns with a report from Andy Strickland of FanDuel Sports Network Midwest earlier today that Broberg’s absence wouldn’t be as long as initially feared.

Signed to a two-year, $9.16MM offer sheet and plucked away from the Oilers in August, Broberg has been instrumental in filling the gap vacated by Krug’s season-long absence, plus a lengthy stretch without Nick Leddy in the lineup. He’d taken over as their best left-shot defender in the interim, posting two goals, seven assists, and nine points with a +6 rating in his first 12 games with St. Louis.

Broberg appeared in just 12 regular-season contests with Edmonton all of last season, spending most of the campaign in the AHL. He’s on pace this year to avoid a minor-league assignment entirely for the first time since being drafted eighth overall in 2019 and subsequently arriving in North America with the Oilers two years later. The projected length of his absence still gives him a chance to crack his previous career-high of 46 NHL games set in 2022-23. After just two goals and 13 points in 81 showings in Edmonton, his offensive game was finally thriving in a much more significant role in St. Louis. Drafted as a two-way defender with the potential for decent NHL point totals, Broberg had 38 points (5 G, 33 A) in 49 games for AHL Bakersfield last season.

At even strength, Broberg had been skating in a second-pairing role alongside Justin Faulk while 40-year-old Ryan Suter held down top-pairing duties with Colton Parayko with Leddy out. Pierre-Olivier Joseph slid up alongside Faulk in practice today, according to Lou Korac of NHL.com. He will replace a good portion of Broberg’s minutes, at least for now. Perunovich is expected to re-enter the lineup in a third-pairing role alongside Matthew Kessel after serving as a healthy scratch in two of the Blues’ last three games.

Broberg’s contract costs $4.58MM against the cap. He’s signed through 2025-26 and will become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights upon expiry.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Philip Broberg Leaves Game With Leg Injury

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Blues defenseman Philip Broberg left tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs after sustaining an apparent right leg injury in the second period. The Blues informed reporters, including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that he wouldn’t return to the contest.

At first glance, Broberg’s injury may lead to a long-term absence. The 23-year-old defender got tangled up in a collision along the boards with Toronto winger Mitch Marner, getting his right ankle area caught before falling awkwardly on the rest of the leg. He immediately clutched his knee in pain and remained on the ice for several minutes before skating off with assistance from St. Louis’ trainer. He didn’t put any weight on his injured leg while doing so.

It abruptly pauses what had been a promising start to the season for Broberg. The Blues acquired the 2019 eighth-overall pick from the Oilers via an offer sheet, plucking the restricted free agent away from Edmonton on a two-year, $9.16MM contract. The corresponding $4.58MM cap hit was certainly hefty for a player who spent most of 2023-24 in the minors, though, making only 12 regular-season NHL appearances with the Oilers with underwhelming numbers.

Viewed as a payment based on potential, it seems Broberg’s ceiling has arrived earlier than anticipated. The Swede has thrived in a top-four role for St. Louis with a season-ending injury to Torey Krug and another injury to Nick Leddy, creating ample opportunity on the left side. He had two goals and seven assists in 11 games entering tonight’s action, already setting a new career-high with nine points. That was tied with Jordan Kyrou for the team lead in scoring at the time of writing. He was averaging 20:25 per game and led the team with a +6 rating,

The possession numbers aren’t quite as glorifying for Broberg. The Blues controlled 47.6% of shot attempts with him on the ice at even strength compared to 49.9% without him. But still, he had been operating as their de facto No. 1 left-shot defender in Leddy’s absence, making him a massive loss for a team already without Mathieu Joseph, Kasperi Kapanen and Robert Thomas up front in addition to their injury issues on the blue line.

The Blues don’t play again until Tuesday against the Lightning, so they have a few days to evaluate Broberg’s injury, determine if surgery is necessary, and release a timeline. But it’s nearly a given he won’t be available next week, and although Leddy appears somewhat close to returning, his availability isn’t imminent. That means extra minutes for the 40-year-old Ryan Suter and potential top-four usage for depth offseason pickup Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Scott Perunovich is on hand as an extra defenseman and should be expected to play next week.

Morning Notes: Broberg, Holmberg, Walman

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One of the league’s most eye-opening offseason acquisitions has been making a significant impact with his new club early on. When the Blues signed former Oilers Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to successful offer sheets, most viewed their contracts as a bet on their upside rather than their current prowess. That was especially true in Broberg’s case, as the Blues inked him to a two-year deal with a $4.58MM cap hit despite the 2019 eighth overall pick spending most of last season in the minors.

But early on, Broberg’s been worth the cash and then some. He’s embarked on a six-game point streak to begin his tenure in St. Louis, tying for the team lead in scoring with six points (1 G, 5 A) and tying for the team lead with a +6 rating. What’s more – all of that production has come at even strength, and he’s averaging nearly 20 minutes per game. There’s more about Broberg’s early-season emergence in today’s video breakdown from Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription required).

Here are a couple of more things from around the hockey world this morning:

  • A successful offseason by most accounts from Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving means more forward depth for new head coach Craig Berube to play with. That’s led to a rotation of notable healthy scratches thus far, including late-offseason pickup Max Pacioretty. The next one might be Pontus Holmberg, who Berube said “has got to battle a little bit harder” after last weekend’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers (via Nick Barden of The Hockey News). He was potentially looking to lock down a spot as the team’s third-line center, and while he’s done well in the faceoff dot with a career-high 55.2 FOW%, he’s played mostly on the wing thus far and has an assist and a -1 rating through five appearances. Possession numbers have been extremely unkind to him in heavy defensive usage as well.
  • Defender Jake Walman was a surprise mover this summer when the Red Wings attached a second-round pick to deal him to the Sharks. Most thought at least one Detroit defenseman would be on the move, but not one of the team’s best skaters who’d flourished in a top-pairing role alongside Moritz Seider over the past couple of seasons. Walman recently spoke to The Athletic’s Max Bultman about the move, which he said left him “shocked and heartbroken.” He’s off to a fresh start in San Jose, where he’s averaging over 23 minutes per game as their top blue-line option with two assists and a -2 rating through six appearances.

Snapshots: Red Wings, Broberg, Islanders

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As the Red Wings work through the process of signing their two top remaining RFAs in defenseman Moritz Seider and winger Lucas Raymond, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press suggests that their preference is to keep the cap hit for both players below Dylan Larkin’s $8.7MM price tag.  With the price tag for top blueliners coming off their entry-level deals going up relatively quickly, Seider has some comparables past the $8MM mark (Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson and Buffalo’s Owen Power) so it wouldn’t be surprising to see his cost come in relatively close to Larkin’s.  Raymond, meanwhile, might be using Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle ($8.35MM) as a possible comparable which could result in his cost coming close to the captain’s as well.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • While the Blues handed a pricey contract to get Philip Broberg from Edmonton via an offer sheet this summer, Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch relays that the blueliner probably won’t see power play action right away, even without Torey Krug who is out for the season. Broberg had 39 points in 47 games with AHL Bakersfield last season but head coach Drew Bannister has indicated that their plan for the 23-year-old at this point is to have him killing penalties and that they don’t want to load up on his workload too fast after having a limited role with the Oilers.
  • In his media availability yesterday (video link), Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello indicated that there probably won’t be much of a battle for roster spots on the back end in training camp. Their top six is healthy after an injury-riddled year and their preference is to not have prospects Calle Odelius and Isaiah George in a reserve role to start the season.  Accordingly, the battle for the seventh and final defensive spot in camp could be between returnees Simon Bolduc and Dennis Cholowski.  Bolduc is now waiver-eligible which could help give him a leg up in that battle since Cholowski has cleared successfully in the past.

Blues In Rare Position To Promote Multiple Prospects

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The St. Louis Blues are in a bit of a funk. They’ve missed each of the last two postseasons – only the fourth time in the team’s 57-year history that they’ve missed consecutive playoffs – but are still being elevated by the next-level talent of players like Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Jordan Binnington. That’s kept the team from falling completely into the NHL’s basement, but their core is still aging rapidly. It seems the clock is ticking in St. Louis – as the Blues find themselves in urgent need of a surge in young talent to keep the lineup from falling into a rebuild.

Unfortunately, promoting young players hasn’t been much of a hallmark of recent Blues hockey. Only two teenagers – Thomas and Robby Fabbri – have played meaningful minutes in St. Louis since 2010, and still, both players faced third-line roles and plenty of scrutiny over their ice time. But they each found ways to produce, scoring 33 and 37 points in their rookie seasons respectively, and both eventually working onto St. Louis’ top line. That was short-lived for Fabbri, but the duo’s success nonetheless showed the payoff of giving top prospects NHL minutes.

The Blues have more recently seen those same patterns with 21-year-old Jake Neighbours, who worked up to an impressive 27 goals and 38 points in 77 games this season. It was Neighbours’ first full year in the NHL – though he entered with 52 games of prior experience – and he walked out the tail end of it with a firm grasp on a second-line role. Joel Hofer, 24, made a similar climb to prominence this year, appearing in 30 games and matching the .913 of starter Binnington – having graduated from two proud seasons as the AHL starter.

It’s continued evidence of young players finding success in NHL minutes – spelling tons of excitement for a Blues team preparing to host Dalibor Dvorsky, Zachary Bolduc, and Zach Dean at training camp. The latter two each received their NHL debuts last Spring, with Bolduc even formalizing his rookie season with 25 games played. But Bolduc managed just nine points, while Dean went scoreless in nine games. Their quiet scoring prevailed in the minors leagues as well, but both Bolduc and Dean took big strides in improving their ability to match pro pace. Meanwhile, Dvorsky was tearing up the OHL, recording 45 goals and 88 points in just 52 games. He looked like a pro among amateurs, likely thanks to the 38 games he played in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan in 2022-23.

All three forwards are capable of a jump to the top flight, with the sturdy frames of Bolduc and Dvorsky looking especially mature. That’s great news, as St. Louis sits with, perhaps, their most uncertain bottom-six since the early-2000s. It’s a hodge-podge group, where Alexey Toropchenko stands as the only confident inclusion. Joining him will be a mix of quiet Blues veterans – like Oskar Sundqvist, Nathan Walker, and Kasperi Kapanen – and new acquisitions – like Radek Faksa, Mathieu Joseph, and Alexandre Texier. That’s plenty of manpower to round out a bottom-six, but none of those options would stand as particularly daunting against a young prospect who impresses out of camp.

Making things more exciting is St. Louis’ win of the sweepstakes for Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. They shelled out $6.87MM in offer sheets to bring in the duo, but now add two more exciting young players into their mix of potential breakout names. Holloway is the more experienced of the two, having played in 89 games across the last two seasons. He’s only scored 18 points, split evenly, in those appearances, but looked to have a bit more momentum when he put up nine points in 25 games during the most recent postseason. Holloway has shown he’s capable of being productive with a pro role, scoring 26 points in 30 career AHL games, and should get a chance to quickly earn a prominent role on St. Louis’ lineup. Broberg’s story is largely the same – low-scoring through roughly a season’s worth of NHL appearances (13 points in 81 games) but encouraging minor-league production (65 points in 87 games) and a chance to quickly earn a major role.

That gives St. Louis the rare mix of multiple U23 prospects vying for NHL ice time, and the lineup spots to truly accommodate multiple rookies. It’s been six seasons since the Blues iced carried multiple U23 players on their everyday roster (2017-18, Robert Thomas and Vince Dunn) – but the stars are aligning, making now a better time than ever for St. Louis to fully embrace their burgeoning top prospects. If and how the quintet of Dvorsky, Bolduc, Dean, Holloway, and Broberg are able to earn out NHL roles will stand as the most prophetic question as the Blues look to finally return to the postseason.

West Notes: Oilers, Ceci, Binnington

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The Edmonton Oilers’ decision to let Philip Broberg go and to trade Cody Ceci has opened up a hole in their top four that Josh Wegman of The Score believes should be filled via trade before the NHL trade deadline. This week, the Oilers have been checking in on multiple veteran defensemen who remain free agents, but Wegman believes they will seek a better solution before the playoffs.

Wegman lists Marcus Pettersson, Jakob Chychrun, and Ivan Provorov as potential targets as all three men are pending unrestricted free agents. He also believes that the Oilers could look for a longer-term solution and seek a player with some years left on their contract such as  Mike Matheson, Connor Murphy, or Radko Gudas. The Oilers have been linked to former Oilers Tyson Barrie and Justin Schultz this week, as well as former Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. While all of those defensemen have had solid NHL careers, they are not great options for a Stanley Cup-contending team looking to round out their second defensive pairing.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Jim Matheson of The Edmonton Journal doesn’t believe that defenseman Cody Ceci will remain in a San Jose Sharks uniform for very long. The recently traded defenseman has one year left on his current contract with a cap hit of $3.25MM and will likely be dealt to a contending team before next year’s NHL trade deadline. Ceci has never been an analytics darling and probably shouldn’t be a top-four defenseman on a contending team, but as a bottom-pairing defender, he could bring a lot of value to a team looking to add some experience to the backend of their lineup.
  • St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was reportedly very happy with the recent moves made by Blues general manager Doug Armstrong (as per Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com). Binnington told Zeisberger that the successful offer sheets to Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg showed current Blues players that Armstrong had faith in the group, which will motivate the club as they head into training camp. Binnington added that the additions to the Blues should help make the team more competitive next season as they will be a faster group that is harder for opponents to play against.

Notes From The Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway Offer Sheet Fall-Out

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The Oilers were likely to lose Philip Broberg one way or another this month. The Blues were one of three teams preparing an offer sheet for the defenseman, Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest reports.

It’s unclear if the two other offers were officially presented to Broberg’s camp. But, as a reminder, unsigned RFAs have no obligation to sign an offer sheet if they’re presented with one.

That means the Blues weren’t just competing with the Oilers’ offer to retain Broberg, which Strickland adds was likely a two-year deal with a $1.1MM average annual value, far less than the $4.58MM AAV at which they acquired him. They were competing with two other teams, partially explaining their inflated offer to the 2019 eighth-overall pick. Their offer to Broberg was also the maximum they could sign him for without being required to part with their 2025 first-round pick as compensation to Edmonton.

It’s also fair to infer that Broberg’s camp had an indication for some time that there was offer sheet interest. The deal from the Oilers was much closer to fair market value for a defender coming off a season spent mainly in the minors and less than an entire season’s worth of NHL experience under his belt.

Edmonton’s offer to Dylan Holloway was a three-year deal worth $1.05MM, per Strickland. That’s a much smaller gap to bridge to the two-year, $2.29MM AAV pact he signed with St. Louis. Still, a deal over the $2MM AAV threshold for a player with fewer than 10 NHL goals across nearly 90 games is challenging for a cap-strapped contender, regardless of his ceiling.

They’ve gone with a slightly older but cheaper player with a skillset to replace him by acquiring Vasily Podkolzin, who was selected two picks after Broberg in 2019, from the Canucks. His AAV is $1MM for the next two seasons, mirroring their offer to Holloway more closely.

Sacrificing short-term overpaid but high-ceiling young talent came to maintain in-season salary cap flexibility, posits Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. After declining to match the offer sheets, the Oilers have enough projected cap space to field a 22-player opening night roster without utilizing long-term injured reserve, allowing them to accumulate cap space throughout the season.

That will give general manager Stan Bowman free reign to add talent at the trade deadline as the Oilers attempt to make their second Stanley Cup Final in as many years. Per PuckPedia, maintaining their roughly $946K in season-opening cap space will snowball into $4.4MM available to spend on March 6.

Oilers Decline To Match Offer Sheets For Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway

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The Oilers have let Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway head to the Blues today by declining to match the offer sheets they signed last week, the team announced.

As such, Broberg and Holloway will enter into valid two-year contracts with the Blues. Broberg’s deal has a total value of $9.16MM and a $4.58MM cap hit, while Holloway’s has a total value of $4.58MM and a $2.29MM cap hit. Upon expiry in 2026, each will become restricted free agents with arbitration rights.

Edmonton will receive the Blues’ 2025 second and third-round picks as compensation for the Broberg and Holloway offers. St. Louis had previously traded away next year’s second-rounder but re-acquired it from the Penguins minutes before announcing the offer sheets last week.

Broberg, 23, was the eighth overall pick in the 2019 draft after dominating that year’s U18 World Championship, being named the tournament’s best defenseman, an All-Star, and a top-three player on the team while winning a gold medal with Sweden. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet been able to convert that draft pedigree into a full-time NHL role. He’s bounced between the Oilers and their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, limiting Edmonton’s willingness to give him a deal with a seven-figure AAV, let alone one in the $4MM range.

2023-24 marked a regression for Broberg, who got just 12 regular-season appearances after making a career-high 46 the season before. The left-shot averaged 11:37 per game, his shortest leash since making his NHL debut three years ago, and had two assists with a -3 rating. However, he was able to unlock a new gear in the minors. He’d been a two-way force with the Condors since arriving in North America in 2021 but took things to a new level last season with five goals, 33 assists, 38 points, and a +11 rating in 49 games. His 0.78 points per game were fourth in the league among defenders with at least 15 games played.

Broberg entered restricted free agency for the first time on a bit of a high note after re-entering the Oilers lineup during the tail end of their run to the Stanley Cup Final. He got into 10 games in May and June, getting top-four spot duty alongside Darnell Nurse and averaging 15:48 per game. He seemed to respond well, posting three points and a +8 rating, but his shot attempt metrics were quite poor, and his rating has more to do with an artificially high .969 SV% from Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner while Broberg was on the ice. The eye test indicated he was playing with more confidence, though, despite being bumped to his weak side playing with Nurse.

Holloway is a similar story. The 6’1″ forward, who turns 23 next month, was the No. 14 overall pick a year after Broberg and, had he been eight days older, would have been eligible for the 2022 draft instead. In his post-draft season, Holloway enjoyed a standout sophomore campaign at the University of Wisconsin, where he had 35 points in just 23 games and was named to the Big 10 conference’s First All-Star Team and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player. However, like his Swedish counterpart, Holloway has failed to avoid AHL assignments through each of his three professional seasons thus far.

However, Holloway has gotten more runway at the NHL level, making 89 appearances combined over the past two campaigns. He’s likely a safer bet to be an impact piece for St. Louis this season despite his contract being worth half as much as Broberg’s. With Edmonton’s world-beating forward depth, there have been limited opportunities for Holloway to land a spot higher up in the lineup, limiting his usage to 10:21 per game. That’s resulted in a relatively meager career offensive output of nine goals and 18 points, 0.20 per game.

Like Broberg, Holloway’s minor-league showings have been strong, most recently scoring 10 goals and six assists in 18 games with the Condors last season. But with the pending move to the Blues, both players’ days of seeing AHL ice are over. The Blues’ entire left defense depth chart becomes a tossup with Broberg, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Scott Perunovich and veterans Nick Leddy and Ryan Suter, neither of whom have any set roles entering the season. There’s also the matter of Torey Krug, who could miss the entire 2024-25 season if he undergoes surgery to correct pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle. If he’s out, there’s a chance for Broberg to earn a top-four job come opening night with a strong training camp.

Likewise, the Blues’ below-average forward depth gives Holloway a fighting chance at claiming a top-nine role when the Blues kick off the NHL’s Opening Night festivities against the Kraken on Oct. 8. There are options galore for the Blues to utilize Holloway, who can play both left-wing and center, in a wide-open competition with depth players like Mathieu Joseph, Kasperi Kapanen and Alexandre Texier.

It’s all part of a clear directive from St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong to get younger and faster this summer, picking up more cost-effective depth pieces like Joseph and Texier to help boost a team with a roster now barely recognizable from its 2019 Stanley Cup win.

The Blues will be down to just $470K in projected cap space after taking on the contracts, but that’s assuming a roster size of two players over the 23-man limit. If they sent a pair of league-minimum contracts down to the minors, they’ll begin the season with just over $2MM in space.

After letting both players walk, the Oilers’ pathway to cap compliance is now clear. It’ll be a tight fit, but they have a few options to submit a cap-compliant opening night roster with at least one healthy extra, as outlined by PuckPedia. On the ice, they went out and acquired cheaper replacements for Broberg and Holloway on the trade market by picking up Ty Emberson from the Sharks and Vasily Podkolzin from the Canucks, but said goodbye to top-four fixture Cody Ceci and his $3.25MM cap hit in the process.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report that the Oilers would not be matching the offer sheets.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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