Holland reportedly defied upper management's request to sign Broberg & Holloway

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Cooper Godin
August 14, 2024 (9:10)

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Former Edmonton Oilers General Manager Ken Holland reportedly defied upper management's request to sign Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway earlier this year.

Tuesday was a tough day for the Edmonton Oilers after they received the news that the St. Louis Blues had decided to submit an offer sheet for not one, but two of their restricted free agents - Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway.

Broberg's deal with the Blues is for two years with an AAV of $4.58 million USD, while Dylan Holloway's offer sheet was also for two years and comes in at $2.29 million per season. The Oilers have seven days to decide whether or not they'll match either contract. If they decide not to, the compensation they'll receive is a 2025 second-round pick for Philip Broberg and a 2025 third-round pick for Dylan Holloway.

After the news broke regarding the offer sheets, Bob Stauffer was a guest on Oilers Now and shared some pretty eye-opening news about the upper levels of the organization wanting Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway locked up to contract eight months ago.

Stauffer said that the upper levels of the Oilers organization reportedly went to then-General manager Ken Holland back in January and said that he needs to sign Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway soon. At the time, Broberg and Holloway were in the American Hockey League and Stauffer says that the Oilers could have gotten them both under contract for relatively cheap. Holland ultimately defied the request and in June, left the Oilers organization and shortly after, Broberg and Hollway became restricted free agents.

"I can 100% guarantee you that upper management, Ken Holland the General Manager at that time, as far back as December and January were instructed at the top levels of the Oilers organization to get Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg signed to contract extensions, especially in the month of January when both players were in the minors." Stauffer said.

One fan who listened to the podcast episode felt like Bob Stauffer was hinting at that Holland got Doug Armstrong to submit the offer sheets as revenge for not extending his contract. However, it's hard to see that being true, especially since it was a mutual decision by both sides to not extend the contract and Ken Holland told the Oilers he didn't want to return in any capacity for the 2024-25 season.

The next week is going to be interesting to see how the Edmonton Oilers approach their decision on the offer sheets to Broberg and Holloway. NHL teams are allowed to spend 10% over the cap in the summer, so technically, the Oilers could match both contract, but it would complicate things further before training camp as they would need to shed much more salary than they would if they matched just one of the offer sheets.