Edmonton Oilers suddenly face predicament with Mattias Ekholm after offer sheet

The Edmonton Oilers find themselves in a tough position after the Blues signed defenseman Philip Broberg to an offer sheet, limiting their options on defense.

Broberg signed a deal worth 4.58 million dollars a season for two years with the Blues earlier this week. The move means that the Oilers would get a 2nd round pick in compensation should they choose not to match. That will be a very tough choice as Broberg clearly is not worth that kind of money right now, and the team will be in a cap bind in upcoming seasons with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid's contracts coming up in the next two summers. However, Broberg was seemingly in line to replace Mattias Ekholm, who is already 34 years old. He does not have many years left in his NHL career, so without Broberg, the team would need to look elsewhere for another adequate replacement.

Ironically, it has been pointed out that Broberg and Ekholm are similar players stylistically speaking, making this move make even more sense. Surely, replacing Ekholm with Broberg would have been the ideal path for the team.

Unfortunately, that just is not the reality anymore. The Oilers mishandled Broberg, leading him to request a trade half-way through the season last year. Now the Blues have offered him a deal they likely will not be able to match. Stan Bowman got himself into this mess, now he'll have to get himself out of it.

Broberg got into just 12 games with the Oilers last season, and had 2 assists to show for it. He's appeared in 81 career contests with the team, totaling 2 goals and 13 points. He did however, get into 10 playoff games as well where he has 2 goals and 3 points, as well as a significant jump in ice time, going from 11 minutes in the regular season to over 15 on average in the playoffs. Can he still become the player the Oilers were expecting when they drafted him 8th overall? Perhaps, but at this point, it seems unlikely that he will still be with the team if he does.

Source: OilersDailyQuestions about Ekholm's future may change Oilers course of action

Source: HockeyReference Philip Broberg Career Statistics

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