Stan Bowman admits to a major fault in managing the Edmonton Oilers
Photo credit: The Oil Rig
After losing Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to the St. Louis Blues to offer-sheets, GM Stan Bowman is facing a chorus of angry fans.
Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman would let forward Dylan Holloway, and defenseman Philip Broberg slip away to St. Louis this off-season.
He though he couldn't ice a full lineup without making some sacrifices, and two of them were promising prospects in the Oilers' system.
GM Doug Armstrong wasn't shy about stealing away Broberg and Holloway, who were richly awarded nicer contracts and more time on ice thanks to the ongoing retool in St. Louis.
Holloway has found himself on the team's second line and 2nd power-play unit thanks to his hard work. His teammate, Broberg, has found success with the Blues in the top-four for the Blues, and finding significant time on the power-play and penalty-kill this year, when he wasn't injured.
Now, the chickens are coming home to roost as Oilers fans are unhappy with his mismanagement of the team's roster.
He tried to assuage the fans' anger, unsuccessfully.
'I think they both have had good years in St. Louis, so that's got a lot of attention saying, 'Well why wouldn't we have matched?', but it really came down to a fundamental salary cap challenge for us,» said Bowman. «We wouldn't have the team we have now if we would've matched either one of those offers. We would've had to have gotten rid of a pretty core player. Simply, the math didn't work. It's not like we didn't like the players or didn't think they could be good players for us, but when you look at the salary cap, that was what we're studying, was 'Is there any possible way to match either or both?'
With no disrespect to the players whom Stan Bowman brought in as replacements, Ty Emberson, and Vasily Podkolzin haven't found the same success as Holloway have in the Oilers system.
Instead of addressing the fact that he's downgraded the lineup, he pivots to the value of the players over the quality of the play, which is woefully inadequate compared to the short-tenure of Holloway and Broberg.
'I think we pivoted pretty good. We brought in Podkolzin and Emberson, and they've played really well for us. Low-priced players that came in and found a role on our team. I think we made it work and we like where we're at.'
The blame in this situation isn't Bowman's alone, though.
Instead of locking down both players before Ken Holland would exit the organization he punted it to Bowman, who has woefully miscalculated the value of both players.
To give you an idea of how badly Bowman fumbled this entire situation.
Dylan Holloway has played 73 games for the Blues and scored 60 points (24 goals, 36 assists) and is a more than capable two-way forward who is worth every penny.
While Philip Broberg has suffered through injuries this year, but has found himself playing on the PK, in addition to time on the power-play early in the season.
Broberg has played 60 games for the Blues and scored 27 points (8 goals, 19 assists) with a +10.
Keep in mind, this is the same GM who gave out a lucrative deal to Seth Jones, who was past his prime.
You can't bargain bin your way to a Stanley Cup, just ask Bill Zito.
| POLL | ||
MARS 26 | 877 ANSWERS Stan Bowman admits to a major fault in managing the Edmonton Oilers Is GM Stan Bowman of the Edmonton Oilers a good general manager in the NHL? | ||
| Yes | 319 | 36.4 % |
| No | 558 | 63.6 % |
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