Did former Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland drop the ball failing to ...

This in from Edmonton Oilers insider Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers Now, his description of how former Oilers GM Ken Holland failed to get Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway signed to new contracts this past hockey season.

Said Stauffer: “Sometimes you have to be ahead of the curve. I can 100 per cent guarantee you that upper management, Ken Holland, the general manager at that time, as far back as December and January, were instructed — instructed at the top levels of the Edmonton 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.

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“Here is where I tell you that players are at their most vulnerable when they’re dealing with injuries or if they are star players or they are top-end picks and they have been sent and demoted down to the minors, that there is theory that that is the time that you reinforce with them that they are future part of the plans in your organization. So, on that note, it should be mentioned the two best prospects in the Oilers organization, and a lot of people questioned the validity of how good those top two prospects were, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. They were in the minors.

“And again from the top levels of the Oilers organization, the Oilers management team headed up by Ken Holland at that time was instructed, ‘You know, let’s get working, let’s get a deal done on both guys.’ Ken Holland is no longer the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers. It’s quite ironic that Doug Armstrong, whom Ken would certainly admit is among his best friends in the business, that it’s Doug Armstrong and the St. Louis Blues that have done two, not one, but two offer sheets on the Edmonton Oilers.”

Stauffer mentioned how it became public that Broberg and his agent were unhappy with Broberg’s handling in Edmonton during the course of this season. Then ,once again, Stauffer communicated his main point, “I must reiterate with you … you should know that it was communicated, ‘Hey we need to prioritize getting these guys done.’ That didn’t happen for whatever reason.”

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He later added, “I’m saying the team should have been more proactive in the first place.” This isn’t the first time we’re hearing this from Stauffer. I recall him saying on his show last January that it would be a good idea to get on it and sign Broberg and Holloway to two-year deals.

Stauffer said the St. Louis offer sheet was predatorial but also well within the bounds of the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement.

“It’s going to be a very interesting next couple of days for sure… I’m sure the organizational is looking at a multitude of options.”

Stauffer said he did not know why Holland did not sign Holloway and Broberg last winter, but wondered if there was a belief that there simply was not going to be an offer sheet for either player.

1. I’ve rarely seen opinions so wild, bizarre, all-over-the-place and lacking in general consensus as they are today among Oilers fans and observers. I’m hearing every opinion under the sun on this topic and a lot of them make zero sense.

For example, I heard one fan suggest this was some kind of payback for the Oilers signing Stan Bowman as GM.

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On Oilers Now, Stauffer suggested some folks are looking at the offer sheets and drawing a straight line between the relationships of Holland, Armstrong and Bowman, Armstrong’s old rival.

When this was put to NHL insider John Shannon, Shannon quite rightly said, “Hogwash. Honestly I think it’s yelling at wind mills”

Armstrong’s strong desire is to win so he’s cleared cap space to maybe bring in two strong young players, Shannon said. Shannon speculated that Armstrong would have been plotting for a year on such a move.

2. The only consensus is that most fans feel the Oilers should match at least one of the offer sheets, but there’s no agreement on whether that matching should be on Broberg or Holloway or both.

3. This is certainly an intriguing tidbit of information from Stauffer on the Oilers inner workings last winter.  Other than that, though, I’m not sure I grasp it’s significance. Does the blame for this St. Louis offer sheet rest on Holland then? Is he fully to blame for not being pro-active, as Stauffer puts it.

I can see Holland might well have screwed up here but the failure surely would not be his alone.

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There are two people above Holland on the Oilers’ organizational depth chart, hockey boss Jeff Jackson and owner Daryl Katz. Holland’s job was to negotiate contracts, but does not the buck ultimately stop with the top boss Jackson and the owner Katz?

If Jackson and Katz pushed Holland to get contracts done with Holloway and Broberg last winter, and if Holland failed to get them done, Jackson could have intervened, right? Katz could have pushed harder, correct?

It’s also the case Jackson was in charge in July and pushed hard to sign so many top players, creating the current tight cap situation for the Oilers. Jackson brought in numerous players on excellent deals but also took the team over the cap. I’m sure he’ll get the team out of this situation, but it’s him calling the shots.

4. Broberg and Holloway were in the minors through March 2024. Yes, it would have been great if they had signed then. Perhaps the players would have signed for bargain contracts.

Or maybe both Broberg and Holloway thought their best bet was to wait things out until summer and see if they could not boost their value in the playoffs? I don’t know. I can’t say.

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But if there was a failure to act fast to sign these players, there’s plenty of blame at the top of the organization to go around.

5. Anyway, as fascinating as it might be to dig into who did what wrong for whatever reason, and as wild as so many opinions are, the focus must remain the same: How do the Oilers win the Stanley Cup? What is the best path?

6. I have more questions than answers: Does matching Broberg and Holloway make sense? Will it throw the Oilers’ salary structure out of whack? Will it cause resentment from vets who took salary discounts to play here this winter?

As I see it, if you think Broberg keeps playing like a Top 4 d-man and that Dylan Holloway keeps playing like a Top-6 winger, as both players did at times in the heat of the playoffs, it’s an easy call: the Oilers match and keep both of them. Both are big, fast and skilled and Holloway has a dimension of ferocity the team badly needs.

With news that it’s likely Evander Kane will go on the Long Term Injured Reserve List, it’s evident the Oilers don’t have to do anything fast if they do decide to retain Broberg and Holloway.

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If Kane gets surgery he might be out until the New Year, if not longer. This will give Edmonton plenty of time to either make a trade to get needed cap space or perhaps there will be another injury or two, which would also clear up cap space. If the Oilers do not match, and with Kane on LTIR, time is on the side of the Oilers to figure out the right path.

McCURDY: Looking highly likely Kane will go on Injured Reserve

McCURDY: Blues hammer Oilers with double offer sheets to Broberg, Holloway

STAPLES: “A kick in the head” — social media reacts to offer sheet news

STAPLES: Digging in to Oilers’ cap situation with Draisaitl extension looming

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