Oilers expected to make offer sheet decision later today: report
It is officially crunch time for the Edmonton Oilers regarding their offer sheet situation, and it appears a decision is expected to be made later today.
The St. Louis Blues are patiently waiting to see what the Oilers decide after offer sheets were extended to both defenceman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway last week. Edmonton was given a total of seven days to make up their minds, with the deadline set for tomorrow morning.
Broberg’s offer has a cap hit of $4.58 million for the next two seasons, while Holloway’s totals up to a $2.9 million AAV for the next two years as well.
According to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, a decision is expected to come sooner rather than later.
“Expecting a Monday afternoon announcement by [the Edmonton Oilers],” Spector posted on social media last night.
Have to wonder if the Oilers aren’t grabbing a young left winger before losing Holloway.
Does that mean Broberg stays?
Expecting a Monday afternoon announcement by @EdmontonOilers https://t.co/Q2InLd0GZB— Mark Spector🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@SportsnetSpec) August 18, 2024
Oilers GM Stan Bowman has been making moves to open up cap space, trading for Vasily Podkolzin from the Vancouver Canucks and dumping Cody Ceci in a separate deal with the San Jose Sharks on a busy Sunday night for the club.
The moves appeared to signal that the team was preparing to match Broberg’s offer while letting Holloway walk. After all, the team acquired a forward and moved out a defenceman, but the Oilers could still match both offers.
If you consider that Evander Kane’s $5.125 million is expected to start the season on the LTIR, the Oilers could match both offer sheets and still be cap-compliant on day one of the regular season.
PuckPedia laid out the cap situations for the Oilers, depending on how they decide to proceed with the offer sheets.
To recap:
-EDM can match both offer sheets
-if they match both & Kane returns with everyone healthy, can only be compliant with another trade
-If match Broberg but not Holloway, can be cap compliant when Kane returns without needing another trade https://t.co/UMuUxmU68R— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) August 19, 2024
It’s not a stretch to say that the Oilers match Broberg and Holloway and punt the decision down the road. All that matters right now is that the team will be compliant when the season starts. Once Kane gets healthy, another deal would need to be made to ensure compliance, but the timeline for when that could happen is murky.
Broberg and Holloway were expected to be key pieces to the Oilers’ roster next season. It may be an expensive gamble, but it’s certainly within the realm of possibility.
Not too long before we find out what the Oilers have been cooking up.