Oilers’ Philip Broberg seeking trade, per source: Why he could be on the move

EDMONTON – It’s likely that Philip Broberg has played his last game for the Edmonton Oilers. Amid reports the Oilers have granted permission for Broberg’s camp to seek a trade, a source briefed on the situation told The Athletic that the 22-year-old defenseman is expected to be moved very soon.

“He’s not going to be there (with the Oilers) long,” the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. This person added that there is a lot of interest in Broberg from other teams.

DailyFaceoff’s Frank Seravalli and ESPN’s Kevin Weekes were the first to report that Broberg’s representation is looking for a trade. Broberg’s agent is Darren Ferris.

TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported that Oilers GM Ken Holland denied granting Broberg’s representation the authority to discuss a trade with other teams.

“I have not granted permission,” Holland confirmed to The Athletic.

The Oilers are expected to be seeking a young player in the same price range as Broberg’s $863,334 cap hit in return.

Broberg has played 10 games for the Oilers this season with no points while averaging 10:32 of ice time.

The first three games of the season saw Broberg skate as part of a six-defensemen setup, once on the left side and twice on the right. His last seven appearances have come when the Oilers have dressed seven blueliners and he’s seen limited minutes.

Broberg appeared in four games for the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors before being recalled on Nov. 15 after a long-term injury to Dylan Holloway. He’s been called upon for two of the eight games since being summoned from the minors.

The Oilers are not only in what they hope to be their Stanley Cup window, but they’ve also had the good fortune of being healthy on defense during this season and last.

Cody Ceci was the only top-five defenseman to miss time since the 2022-23 campaign began. His absence wasn’t even health-related as he sat out a pair of games at the end of last season ahead of the birth of his first child. All that has factored into Broberg struggling to find playing time with the Oilers.

“Edmonton’s a tough place for a young defenseman,” the source said.

The worst thing to happen to Broberg this season was fellow Swede Mattias Ekholm sustaining a hip flexor/groin injury ahead of training camp.

Assistant coach Mark Stuart traveled to Stockholm in the summer to spend time with Broberg. Stuart showed Broberg several clips of him playing on the right side to prepare him for the upcoming assignment of being paired with the veteran Ekholm. Both players are left shots, but Broberg has plenty of experience on the right side and is comfortable in that position.

Instead, Ekholm’s injury, which cost him the entire exhibition schedule and an 8-1 loss in Vancouver in the season opener, torpedoed those plans. Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse were supposed to be a duo, but that partnership was abandoned upon Ekholm’s return for the second game of the season. Ekholm and Bouchard were reunited, leaving Broberg to fall by the wayside.

As a result, Broberg is still trying to gain traction as a full-time NHL player. This is his fifth season after being selected eighth by the Oilers in the 2019 draft, Holland’s first as the team’s general manager.

Holland chose Broberg ahead of a slew of high-quality United States National Team Development Program forwards, namely Trevor Zegras, Matthew Boldy and Cole Caufield. The Oilers could have used a young, cheap player to skate next to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at the time.

Holland lived in Northville, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, when he ran the Red Wings. Northville is a 10-minute drive from the development team’s home rink in Plymouth. Broberg stood out above any of them in Holland’s eyes.

The Oilers slow-played Broberg, allowing him to develop in the Swedish Hockey League with Skellefteå for two seasons after the draft before signing him to his entry-level contract and bringing him to North America. The organizational view of Broberg remained sky-high.

Holland told The Athletic in February 2022 that he expected Broberg to slide behind Nurse on the left side of the Edmonton blue line for years to come.

“I believe he’s going to be a top-four defenseman in the National Hockey League,” Holland said. “In my mind, that’s not a question.”

By last fall, defenseman Jakob Chychrun wanted out of Arizona and was being linked to Edmonton. However, including Broberg in such a trade was seen as a non-starter because there were people in the Oilers organization who felt Broberg would be as good as Chychrun – perhaps as soon as the end of that season.

Instead, Chychrun was dealt to Ottawa before the trade deadline and the Oilers acquired Ekholm, in a deal that obviously didn’t include Broberg.

That trade created a bigger logjam ahead of the young rearguard, though. Ahead of the draft in June, Holland wrestled with trading Broberg or someone else to create a secure roster spot for him.

“That’s what I’ve got to sort out in the next couple of weeks,” Holland told The Athletic. “But being in the seven hole, playing five minutes, I don’t know that that’s doing much for his development and growth as a player. He needs to play 15 to 20 minutes.”

Holland didn’t make a move of any kind, and his concern of Broberg hardly playing has come to fruition.

Now it appears likely the Oilers might have to trade him after all.