Oilers avoid cap disaster by allowing two future stars to get taken by Western Conference team
Photo credit: Edmonton Oilers Raw
With the Chicago signing of Frank Nazar this week to a 7-year, $6.6M cap hip contract, the Oilers may have actually avoided its own disaster, in terms of cap space and the team's future outlook.
When Phillip Broberg and Dylan Holloway were lost to St. Louis because the Oilers refused to match the Blues' offer sheets, it was deemed a huge blunder, one from which it would take years to recover, given the players' importance to their future plans.
Oilers avoid future disaster by not matching ST. Louis Blues offer sheers on Broberg and Holloway
Twenty-one year old Nazar played 53 games for Chicago in 2024-25, scoring only 12G and 14A. Over his career of 56 games, he has a record of 13G and 14A. Yet, he still managed to obtain what few young players receive only 2 years into their careers.
Dylan Holloway, on the other hand, scored 26G and 37A for St. Louis last season, over 77 games, almost three times more than Nazar's production. As he is set to become a free agent, it's likely he will receive in the neighbourhood of a $7M cap hit on his next contract.
Edmonton would have been hard pressed to accomodate such a high salary for Holloway, given the team's top players that were at the time set to become free agents, one of whom (McDavid) remains unsigned to date.
The Oilers, FYI, only have $226K in cap space moving forward, to give you an idea of how tight the cap situation is this season.
"We were evaluating the (salary-cap) situation we were in when those offer sheets came in," Bowman said. "Given that, as well as the other constraints that we have, we didn't feel like it was the right move to essentially limit our optionality moving forward - not only for this year, but in the future."
In fact, prior to the offers, and during Ken Holland's tenure, there had been some discussion to extend Holloway and Broberg at a discounted rate, which could have avoided the offer sheets, and secure the two future-stars for a reasonable cap hit.
It had been reported by Bob Stauffer on Oilers that 'Edmonton Oilers' GM Ken Holland was unwilling to move both Broberg and Holloway in a trade for St. Louis winger Pavel Buchnevich. Holland did not listen to the Oilers' upper management's desire to extend Broberg and Holloway during their 2023-24 runs in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors.
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