Reports: Oilers Stung With The Bittersweet Success Of Elite Sensation
A highly-touted prospect is finally reaching his potential, thanks to the ice time and role he requires to become the player everyone anticipated.
The Edmonton Oilers might take note of this, especially since the prospect in question is none other than Philip Broberg.
Broberg was the first draft pick made by former Oilers GM Ken Holland during his time in Edmonton. A tall and agile defender, he possessed all the skills necessary to excel as a two-way NHL defenseman.
Fast forward five years and one offer sheet later, Broberg is finding moderate success with the St. Louis Blues, partly due to the chances they’ve given him that align with his talent and background.
It’s certainly premature to label this a missed chance for the Oilers. There’s still a lot of the season remaining for either Troy Stecher or Ty Emberson to surpass Broberg’s current path.
The early results from a risky investment have yielded significant benefits for the Blues, which must be a mixed blessing for the Oilers.
Broberg has spent 85% of his even-strength ice time alongside veteran Justin Faulk, helping them outscore their opponents 2-0 while on the ice together, despite being outshot 50-59.
Starting the 2024-25 season with a 2-2-0 record, the Blues have benefited from Broberg’s contributions. He has recorded four points in those four games, averaging 18:42 of ice time per night.
Broberg mainly plays during even-strength situations and averages the fourth-most minutes per game for the Blues, following Colton Parayko, Nick Leddy, and Faulk. His 17:48 of five-on-five ice time would place him third on the Oilers, trailing only Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and Connor McDavid.
It seems all Broberg needed was a coaching staff willing to invest the necessary time in him to help him thrive. Ironically, this was the plan the Oilers had in mind for him until a troubling 2-9-1 start led the organization to panic, abandoning their original strategies to regain their footing.
Whether fans want to admit it or not, Broberg might not have seemed worth the high price at the time of the offer sheet, but his situation is rapidly improving. All he required was a coaching staff that believed in him enough to give him more than 11 minutes of ice time per night.
Who would’ve thought?