Edmonton Oilers Bring In Hot Shot D-man. What Does It Mean?

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Cult of Hockey

Published Apr 16, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute read

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Philip Broberg #86 of the Edmonton Oilers skates with the puck against Jonathan Drouin #27 of the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 12, 2023, in Montreal. Broberg is looking forward to having another Swede on the team. Photo by Minas Panagiotakis /Getty Images

This in from the Edmonton Oilers, news that the team has recalled Philip Broberg, their 2019 first round draft pick, to the NHL from Bakersfield of the AHL.

“Don’t be surprised if he plays against both Arizona and Colorado,” said Bob Stauffer of the Oilers Radio Network.

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My take

1. Broberg has been crushing it in the AHL, playing heavy minutes and excelling at them by all accounts. He’s got 35 points in 48 games and is +9. He’s over ripe, as we used to say of Ken Holland’s Detroit Red Wings prospects way back when. He’s more than ready for the NHL, having played six seasons of senior pro hockey, three in Sweden, three in North America, all by the tender age of 22.

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2. Some folks will never forgive the Oilers for drafting Broberg eighth overall in the 2019 draft. It’s true that some players taken after him, such as Anaheim’s controversial Trevor Zegras, Minnesota’s Matt Boldy, Montreal’s Cole Caufield and Dallas’ Thomas Harley, have developed fast than Broberg.

Of course, it’s also true that the vast majority of players drafted after him and a few drafted ahead of him, such as Alex Turcotte and Kaapo Kakko, have yet to shine brightly. At this point, none of that matters, at least not nearly so much as whether or not Broberg will ever pan out for the Oilers, and there’s still an excellent chance he will do so.

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3. Broberg is big, fast, fundamentally sound on defence and a brilliant skater. He’s already had a solid run of consistently good play at the NHL level during the 2022-23 season when he was on the third-pairing with Evan Bouchard. But at the trade deadline that year, Edmonton moved out right shot d-man Tyson Barrie, allowing Bouchard to move up the roster and onto the top power play unit, while the team brought in left shot d-man in Mattias Ekholm, putting Broberg behind one outstanding veteran in Ekholm, and two solid ones in Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak.

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4. Heading into this season there was talk of Broberg switching over to the right side himself and teaming up with Ekholm, but after Edmonton’s rancid start, such experimentation was quickly abandoned, the coaches preferring to go with more veteran d-men like Kulak, Cody Ceci and Vincent Desharnais over Broberg.

Fair enough.

But this summer Edmonton will face a major cap crunch, meaning either Kulak or Ceci or both will be moved out along with their sizeable contracts. At the trade deadline, Ken Holland made it clear he wasn’t moving out Broberg or Dylan Holloway in order to improve the roster for this spring’s playoffs, but was holding them because they would soon be needed. I’ll be astonished if Broberg isn’t an Oilers regular next season. His skillset is similar to Kulak’s skillset.

5. On Oilers Now, host Brenden Escott asked Bako coach Colin Chaulk about Broberg. “He’s been a force for us, playing on the special teams, playing high minutes, in the high 20s, sometimes less, sometimes as much as the 30s. He’s growing, he’s been able to turn the page on a blunder, he’s been able to skate himself out of mistakes, he’s provided offence, he’s blocked shots, he’s been a real bright spot, and we’re excited for him to have this next chance with the big club. He skates so well. He does everything very well.”

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6. For now, in these final two games of the regular season, the Oilers would be wise to sit Ekholm and Bouchard for one game, Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci the next, and instead play Broberg and Troy Stecher.

The only question is whether or not Broberg can now pull a Holloway, which means coming onto the roster as Holloway just did and making a huge positive impression. I

‘m not going to suggest that Holloway should be or will be in the opening night roster for the playoffs. I don’t think that’s in the cards, given that Holloway has struggled on defence. But if the Oilers wobble at all in the playoffs, the young forward has now made it that much easier for Coach Kris Knoblauch to shake up things by sitting an under-performing veteran and going with Holloway.

I’d be surprised if that doesn’t happen during these playoffs.

Likewise if Broberg can shine in these next two games, it’ll be that much easier for Knoblauch to call his number and get him in a game.

Make sense?

P.S. Remember how we all worried about the great number of goals against the Oilers were giving up on the rush earlier this season? That’s been rectified under Knoblauch.

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