It’s becoming clear that the Edmonton Oilers will go all-in for a Stanley Cup this season. Their 16-game winning streak may have been snapped recently in a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, but they continue to play solid hockey and seem poised to make the playoffs after starting the season 3-9-1.
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With plenty of young assets, the Oilers can pull off a massive trade to help them go on a deep playoff run, but they have made something very clear to some teams who have had interest in Philip Broberg. According to Elliotte Friedman on his Saturday Headlines segment, the Oilers have said they won’t be trading Broberg for a rental. This doesn’t shut down the idea that he could be moved, but it does make it clear they want someone with term left on their contract in return. As a promising young defender who still has a lot of room to grow, it makes sense why the Oilers aren’t willing to part with someone with long-term potential, for a short-term solution.
There were reports that Broberg was unhappy in Edmonton and had been granted permission to facilitate a trade, but those were shut down by Oilers’ general manager Ken Holland. While Broberg is rehabbing an injury, he was sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL) earlier this season and has been playing quite well since joining them. It’s fair to assume that any player would be upset if they weren’t playing at the NHL level and thought they deserved to be. He was getting under 10 minutes a game when he was with the Oilers at the beginning of the season, or he was being healthy scratched.
Broberg’s Career So Far
Broberg, who is 22 years old, was drafted by the Oilers in the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and has remained in their organization ever since. He is a left-shot defender who stands 6-foot-3, 198 pounds, and has spent the majority of his professional hockey career in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors. This season, he has played 10 games with the Oilers and has no points, but has scored one goal and added 18 assists for 19 points through 29 games with the Condors.
“Two-way defenseman with great size and speed. Good puck-skills and decent mobility. Upside to become a number three defenseman with good offensive numbers”
– DobberProspects (Philip Broberg – Dobber Prospects Profile)
Through 67 career AHL games, Broberg has scored seven goals and added 39 assists for 46 points through 67 games which comes out to a 0.69 points-per-game average. In 79 career NHL games, he has scored two goals and added nine assists for 11 points through 79 games which comes out to a 0.14 points-per-game average. While he hasn’t been able to play big minutes at the NHL level, he has been given a huge opportunity with the Condors as their top-pairing defender and has taken advantage of it. He is playing over 20 minutes a night and when he returns from injury, could go back to doing the same thing. If the Oilers opt to keep him, he could be a huge part of a potential Condors playoff run.
What Could The Oilers Trade Him For Instead?
Broberg could stick around in Edmonton for their playoff run as well. It’s fair to assume they could call him up and give him another opportunity to showcase himself if they move out Cody Ceci and aren’t able to bring in a replacement. However, if they choose to move out Broberg in hopes of bringing in an upgrade, there are plenty of options out there that the Oilers should consider.
The top names on the trade market include defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Nick Seeler, as well as forwards Jake Guentzel and Vladimir Tarasenko. All five of those players could be impact players for the Oilers as rentals, but they are smart to hold off on moving Broberg for any of them. Last season, they made a splash by bringing in Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators, who had term left on his contract, so they would prefer to bring in players who won’t choose to leave at the end of the season for nothing.
Boone Jenner, Michael Bunting, and John Gibson all have several seasons left on their current contracts and could all be players the Oilers look at bringing in. While there hasn’t been any indication of any of these three players wanting to be traded, their names have come up in previous discussions, so maybe they will look at moving Broberg for a player like that.
The Oilers are back in action on Monday (Feb. 19) in a battle against the Arizona Coyotes. Regardless of what they decide to do with Broberg, fans are hopeful that the team can make the right moves and build a lineup strong enough to bring the franchise their first Stanley Cup since 1990.
