Forward Dylan Holloway joins a group of young, high-potential forwards for the Blues.
After a week of waiting with baited breath, Blues fans, myself included, rejoiced Tuesday when we found out that the offer sheets for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway would not be matched by the Oilers, meaning that they would become St. Louis Blues.
It is rare to have such intrigue this late in the NHL offseason. August is baseball stretch run time. The dog days of summer. Free agency in the NHL is over, and teams are mostly set. So these offer sheets that Doug Armstrong presented to the Oilers took the hockey world by great surprise.
For a week it was speculated whether the Oilers would match both, one, or none of the offer sheets. It seemed like they would after making moves to free up salary cap space on Sunday. But after all, they chose not to be locked in to paying more than they were comfortable with for those players. And so defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway join the Blues.
It seems like an overpayment. Broberg will make north of $4 million per year for two years, and Holloway $2 million per year, also for two years. But Broberg has just 81 regular-season games played, and Holloway has 89. Both were restricted free agents, and were expected to earn modest raises. The Blues seem to think, strongly, that both players will take a big step forward in the coming season, worthy of their raises.
So where do they fit on the Blues? Broberg probably slots into the top 4, either alongside Parayko or Faulk. There is an opening in the top 4 because Torey Krug is injured, and his status for the season is up in the air. Broberg represents the kind of promising young defenseman that hasn’t existed in the Blues system since Parayko himself. Holloway, like Broberg, is a former first-round draft pick. He had 5 goals in 25 playoff games last season. He will probably slot in on the third line to start the season.
The Blues have several forwards who will come to camp to compete for a spot in the bottom 6 forward group. They include Zack Bolduc, Mathieu Joseph, Alexey Toropchenko, Kasperi Kapanen, Nathan Walker, Oskar Sundqvist, Radek Faksa, Nikita Alexandrov, Alexandre Texier, and Holloway. That is 10 names for 6 spots, but one of those will earn a second line spot, alongside Brayden Schenn and Jake Neighbours.
The Blues do not have a loaded forward group in terms of established scoring, but they do have a group with potentia. There are many younger players that have room to grow offensively. They have size (Faksa, Toropchenko, Sunny), speed (Kapanen, Joseph), and physicality (Toropchenko, Holloway, Walker).
A couple of these guys will step forward and produce in a remarkable way. The Blues have faith that Broberg and Holloway are those guys.
It just got more exciting to be a St. Louis Blues fan.
Open Ice Notes 