Blues get Broberg, Holloway after Oilers don’t match offer sheets

ST. LOUIS (AP) — 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.

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 St. Louis general manager Doug 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 season left on his current deal.

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 new GM Stan 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.