The St. Louis Blues signed defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway to two-year contracts Tuesday after the Edmonton Oilers declined to match the offer sheets for the restricted free agents.
Broberg signed for a total of $9.16 million and Holloway $4.58 million. The Blues sent second- and third-round picks to Edmonton as compensation.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong defended the rarely used move of issuing offer sheets by saying, “If there is a GM code not to do offer sheets, nobody emailed it to me.” And it made no difference to him who was managing the Oilers, with Stan Bowman taking over for Ken Holland as GM this summer.
“I’d do it to my mother if she was managing the Oilers,” Armstrong said. “My job is to take care of the St. Louis Blues’ fans and the St. Louis Blues’ organization. And we saw an opportunity to do that.”
Later in the day, the NHL Players’ Association said it is reviewing the Philadelphia Flyers’ decision to place 32-year-old forward Ryan Johansen on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract due to a material breach.
In an email to The Associated Press, the NHLPA said: “The Philadelphia Flyers’ actions raise significant concerns. We are currently reviewing the matter.”
The Flyers did not disclose what the material breach was in announcing the move, while saying they had no further comment.
Johansen never appeared in a game with Philadelphia after revealing he had a hip injury upon being acquired by the Flyers along with a first-round draft pick in March in a trade that sent Sean Walker to Colorado.
Johansen’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, posted a message on X calling the Flyers’ move “disappointing,” and adding he’s contacted the NHLPA to defend and protect his client’s rights. Overhardt added, Johansen is scheduled to have surgery on what he called “a severe hockey injury,” and noted his client “has worked in good faith with the club, its medical staff and authorized third party physicians.”
The 14-year NHL player has one year left on his contract, and is due to make $8 million, with Nashville on the hook for paying half of his salary. Johansen has topped 60 points six times, and had 13 goals and 23 points in 63 games with Colorado last year.
In Seattle, the Kraken agreed to sign center Matty Beniers to a seven-year, $49.98 million contract in locking up the first draft pick in franchise history and former Calder Trophy winner through the 2030-31 season. The No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft out of Michigan was a restricted free agent.
In Edmonton, the salary cap-strapped Oilers opted not to keep their two youngest players even after clearing space by trading veteran Cody Ceci to San Jose for younger defenseman Ty Emberson earlier in the week. They had a week to make the decision after Armstrong made the bold moves of signing Broberg and Holloway to the offer sheets — something that has become increasingly rare around the NHL over the past decade.
The last time a player signed an offer sheet was Jesperi Kotkaniemi in 2021 with Carolina, two years after Montreal tried to acquire Sebastian Aho from the Hurricanes with the same method. Before Broberg, Holloway and Kotkaniemi, the last offer sheet not matched was Dustin Penner in 2007.
While the Blues fast-forwarded their rebuild with two NHL-experienced youngsters, the Oilers freed up significant cap space to potentially use at the trade deadline. Just as important, it also provided the team flexibility in negotiating long-term contracts for Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard needed by next summer. Re-signing Draisaitl is the organization’s top priority, and Connor McDavid also only has two seasons left on his current deal.
Bowman confirmed negotiations have begun with Draisaitl. He said matching the offers would have limited the Oilers’ options for this season and beyond.
“It’s less about the players and their abilities and their talents. It’s really about trying to set ourselves up to be in the best position we can be, so we have some options,” Bowman said.
Broberg, 23, was one of the Oilers’ best players late in their run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, thriving after entering the lineup during the Western Conference final. Holloway, 22, scored five goals during the playoffs. Not bringing them back is a gamble by Bowman, who is tasked with trying to help Edmonton win it all in his return from a league suspension for how he handled the 2010 Blackhawks sexual assault allegations when he was in charge in Chicago.
The teams also completed a separate transaction, with Edmonton acquiring the rights to defenseman Paul Fisher and a 2028 third-round draft pick for future considerations. The 6-foot-1, 201-pound Fisher is unsigned and was selected 138th overall in the the 2023 draft.
___
AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno and The Canadian Press contributed to this story.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
