There’s finally some movement in the NHL offseason. According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Face-Off, the St. Louis Blues have made offer sheets to restricted free agents Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from the Edmonton Oilers.
#stlblues have tendered offer sheets to both #Oilers Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway.
Edmonton has 7 days to match the offers.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) August 13, 2024
When a player is a restricted free agent, they can only negotiate with their current team. However, another team can present an offer sheet, which the current team can match to retain the player. If they don’t match, the player can sign with the new team, and the original team receives draft pick compensation based on the contract’s average annual value (AAV).
Here’s the breakdown of compensation for offer sheets:
– $1,415,740 or Below: None
– $1,415,741 – $2,145,061: 3rd Round Pick
– $2,145,062 – $4,290,125: 2nd Round Pick
– $4,290,126 – $6,435,186: 1st & 3rd Round Picks
– $6,435,187 – $8,580,250: 1st, 2nd & 3rd Round Picks
– $8,580,251 – $10,725,314: 1st (x2), 2nd & 3rd Round Picks
– $10,725,315 and up: Four 1st Round Picks
Offer sheets are rare due to the potential for future retaliation. A notable example was in 2019 when the Carolina Hurricanes signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi after the Montreal Canadiens tried to sign Carolina’s Sebastian Aho the previous year.
Boston Bruins fans might be concerned about their goalie Jeremy Swayman, who is still in contract negotiations. However, the Bruins have little reason to worry. For the Blues to sign Broberg and Holloway, they would only need to give up a second and third-round pick. But any team attempting to sign Swayman would have to offer much more, given that his expected deal could range from $7.75 million to $10 million annually.
For a team to successfully sign Swayman, they would need to provide the Bruins with two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a third-round pick. Few teams have both the necessary draft capital and salary cap space to make such an offer. Among them, only the Montreal Canadiens have the resources, but they may be hesitant after being burned in a previous offer sheet attempt.
