Edmonton Oilers decision to walk away from Holloway looks like a huge mistake
The Edmonton Oilers decision to walk away from Dylan Holloway this summer has not aged well.
After signing a two-year, $2.2 million offer sheet with the St. Louis Blues this summer, the former 2020 first-round allowed the Oilers an opportunity to match that deal. Yet, Edmonton decided that they were not willing to give him that contract and instead let him defect to the Blues.
The same decision was made with defenceman Philip Broberg, who joined Holloway in St. Louis on a two-year deal worth $4.5 million.
At the time, Holloway had yet to establish himself as a regular NHL player but was coming off an impressive showing during the Oilers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final. In particular, he had shown glimpses of chemistry on the second line alongside Leon Draisaitl. The offer sheet may have been a bit of an overpayment at the time it was made, but it looks like an absolute bargain less than a season later.
It’s safe to say that Holloway has officially arrived in the NHL this season with St. Louis. Not only is he an NHL regular, but he is quickly turning into an impact player with 23 goals and 58 points in 72 games. That ranks third on St. Louis in points behind only Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas.
He is on pace to hit 76 points this season.
That's the way, Dylan Holloway. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/6Id62OFxke
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 17, 2025
The 23-year-old is no longer fighting for a roster spot in the NHL, as he is now a staple within St. Louis’ top six. Meanwhile, the Oilers have been searching for a player exactly like Holloway after free-agent signings Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner haven’t exactly lived up to expectations.
Oilers GM Stan Bowman did comment on this apparent mistake on last week’s edition of After Hours, where he explained the reason why he didn’t match the offer.
“It really came down to a fundamental salary cap challenge,” Bowman said. “We wouldn’t have the team we have now if we matched either one of those offers… We would have had to gotten rid of a pretty core player.
“It’s not like we didn’t like the players or we didn’t think they could be good players for us.”
While it would have made things a bit tighter for the Oilers, it’s hard to say that fitting Holloway’s $2.2 million would’ve been impossible. Edmonton brought in Vasily Podkolzin’s $1 million cap hit shortly before letting go of Holloway. If you eliminate that move, they would only need to open up a measly $1.2 million to fit him in.
It won’t do any good to dwell on the past now, as Holloway is now in St. Louis, and it’s unlikely that they will be letting go of him anytime soon.