As Broberg, Holloway return to Edmonton, it's clear Oilers mishandled things

EDMONTON — How badly did the Edmonton Oilers mess up when they lost both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway on the same day this past summer?

Let us count the ways...

Any time you lose a pair of 23-year-olds for absolutely nothing in return, it’s time to take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself: Why did this happen? And, how do we make sure this never happens again?

Why didn’t anyone see an every-day defenceman in a six-foot-four, 212-pound, smooth skating Swedish defenceman before it was too late? And when we say too late, by the time Broberg was playing a regular shift in the Stanley Cup Final, it was already too late.

We’re guessing/assuming that the agents for both Broberg and Holloway were cooking up the double offer sheet long before July 1, and that neither player would have signed with Edmonton immediately after the season, knowing that the St. Louis Blues — or someone — would take up what became the most effective Group 2 offer sheet combo in ages.

So, let’s start with Broberg.

Former Oilers general manager Ken Holland drafted Broberg in the first round, wisely left in him in Sweden for a couple of seasons, and as a 20-year-old Broberg played 23 NHL games split roughly between head coaches Dave Tippett and his replacement, Jay Woodcroft.

The following year, Woodcroft — and defensive coaches Mark Stuart and Dave Manson — gave Broberg 46 games, but often had the lefty playing his off side, and on 10 of those nights he played less than 10 minutes. He had a couple of four-minute games at the end of that season, a sure sign the coaches did not trust the player.

Woodcroft liked to go with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, and most often it was Broberg whose shifts dwindled as the game wore on. The system contributed to the loss of both Woodcroft’s job and Broberg, a wonky bit of coaching methodology that crushed Broberg’s soul in Edmonton.

After that season Broberg wanted out of Edmonton, and Holland begged for his patience at an early season meeting in Washington last fall. As Broberg sat in the press box watching the Oilers play, Holland promised him he was going back to AHL Bakersfield to play, and wouldn’t be called back up until there was a full-time position for him on the Oilers blue line.

In the end, the Oilers never knew what they had in Broberg. That’s mostly on Woodcroft and his staff, and also on Holland, whose reputation is to give his coach the players and not get overly involved in how they are deployed.

Holland allowed his coach to alienate an excellent young prospect, and by the time Kris Knoblauch and Paul Coffey figured out that the kid could play, he had one foot out the door.

Today, as Broberg and the Blues arrive in Edmonton for a Hockey Night in Canada game Saturday, Broberg is playing on the Blues' top pair with Colton Parayko. He’s on the left side where he belongs — it was a massive mistake to make a young player play his wrong side — and looks like the stud that Woodcroft never saw coming.

“I’ve taken some steps defensively. You just want to be hard to play against,” Broberg said Friday. “Being confident, that’s where it starts. Just trusting yourself, and you try to make plays.”

He was never allowed to build that confidence in Edmonton, and that’s on the coaching staff. Think of big Vincent Desharnais, and how his confidence grew under Coffey’s guidance.

By the time Coffey got his mitts on Broberg, it was too late. There was no way the Oilers could afford to match the nearly $4.6-million annual salary the Blues gave Broberg, and there was no way Broberg wanted to stay with an organization that mishandled him from the day he arrived in Edmonton.

Holloway, meanwhile, isn’t as tragic a loss — but he’s a loss just the same.

“I’ve got nothing but love for Edmonton, and the people of Edmonton,” he said Friday. “It was definitely tough (to leave). We went so far as a team, two shots away from a Stanley Cup. That said, I’m happy with my new opportunity here.”

Holloway has eight goals and eight assists in 27 games this season. The Oilers could have maneuvered to match his nearly $2.3-million deal, but under new GM Stan Bowman, they opted to let him go.

The time to sign Holloway was mid-season last year, but like Broberg he was in the minor leagues and had very little negotiating power. Agents for both players would have told their players, “Let’s wait and see how the season ends. Maybe things change and we have a better bargaining position to sign a deal closer to July 1.”

Things did change for both players, as they both enjoyed playoff success.

But by then, the offer sheets were cooking — and the Oilers were cooked.

Some wonder if Jeff Jackson’s July 1 — where he signed Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner among others — convinced Holloway that he would not have enough opportunity in Edmonton.

I believe Jackson knew the offer sheets were a likelihood, or perhaps even a done deal. He hadn’t been able to sign either player to that point, so he added Skinner and Arvidsson knowing he’d likely lose Holloway.

Holloway is a hard-charging, fast-skating young winger who has some value.

But Broberg is the true loss here. How a coaching staff did not realize what they had — and their GM did not put his foot down and say, “Play this player!” — is beyond comprehension.

Today, Woodcroft continues to apply for whatever jobs come up around the NHL, unsuccessfully to this point.

With Broberg on his resume, and starting to look like a true stud defenceman, it won’t get any easier.