Restricted free agency (RFA) has been one of the most useless parts of NHL free agency. Every few seasons, it feels like a big-name player becomes an RFA. However, no team even considers him. It’s almost exclusive negation with the team that has his rights. This is due to the unwritten rule among NHL general managers and executives. That is, if you steal a team RFA, then that team has the right to steal yours as revenge. However, the Blues are going against the norm.
Tuesday morning, the Blues tendered offer sheets to two players—Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, both Edmonton Oilers. This move makes a relatively quiet period in NHL free agency much more interesting. How are these offer sheets going to affect both players’ negotiations and their market? As well as could this move change the mindset around RFA’s and offer sheets.
Impact of the Blues Offer Sheeting These Players
To start, let’s look at the contracts the Blues have offered as well as the compensation the Oilers would receive. Broberg was offered a two-year deal with an AAV of four and a half million. That would net the Oilers a second-round pick. While Holloway was offered a two-year deal with an AAV of $2.25 million. That would give the Oilers a third-round pick. Now, the only way the Oilers could receive this compensation would be if they reject and match the offer.
This would be a low-risk high-reward move for the Blues. To start with the trade they recently made with the Penguins to acquire the second-round pick they potentially need. The Blues as they re-tooling their roster. They need to find ways to bring in young talent that can help round out the team. These aren’t superstars but these are two solid pieces to have on an NHL roster. Guys who will slide in nicely into the middle of the lines and put up solid numbers.
Although the contracts are an overpay, it’s still a smart move. The Blues are overpaying to force the Oilers not to match the offer. The Blues have the cap space to afford these bad contracts. The Oilers, on the other hand, can’t. Plus with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard all needing new contracts, the Oilers will need to save cap space.
Could This Change How Teams Feel About Offer Sheets
As mentioned before this is a very uncommon move for an NHL team. The last time a team extended an offer sheet was back in 2021 when the Hurricanes offered one to Jesperi Kotkaniemi. However, the Hurricanes only did this as revenge for the Canadiens extending an offer sheet to Sebastian Aho. Although this has proven to be a good move for the Hurricanes, it was only done out of spite.
However if the Oilers refuse to match and this move works out for the Blues, will the narrative change? Will other teams stop seeing teams extending offer sheets as an insult, and start seeing it as another way to acquire talent? Because at the end of the day, it’s nothing more than making a trade and extending a player. The team extending the offer sheet doesn’t disrespect the other team. All they’re trying to do is bring in a good player and improve their roster. Hopefully, this opens the door for more teams to extend offer sheets.
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