Could Oilers Make ‘Revenge’ Offer Sheet Next Summer on St. Louis Blues’ RFA?

The Edmonton Oilers are still reeling after the St. Louis Blues stunned them with two offer sheets this week on two of their key restricted free agents, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway.

Now some around Edmonton are wondering if the Oilers could hit back at the Blues next summer when they have a very important young player hitting his RFA year. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal writes:

There would be nothing to stop the Oilers from offer-sheeting say, Blues’ winger Jake Neighbours next summer if St. Louis doesn’t resign the restricted free-agent former Oil Kings forward over this upcoming season. Neighbours, who has one year left on his contract, had 27 goals this past season. He is captaincy material down the road.

Neighbours had a huge breakout year for the Blues, as Matheson noted. After a six-goal season in his rookie year in 2022-23, the 22-year-old forward exploded for 27 goals and 38 points this past season. He was a first-rounder (26th overall) in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Are the Blues concerned that Edmonton could pull a 'revenge' offer sheet move like that? And more importantly, could the Oilers actually pull it off, cap-wise?

Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman doubts it could happen, as he said on his 32 Thoughts podcast this week:

I would bet that St. Louis has done a lot of the math on this. Yes, the cap is supposed to go up again next year by about $5 million, but you've got a (Leon) Draistail extension coming and you're going to have a (Connor) McDavid extension coming, and an (Evan) Bouchard extension coming. I think that St. Louis would be betting that Edmonton can't do this and this is one of the things they've talked about.

Indeed, the Oilers are over the cap already right now, and will have to do some gymnastics to get cap-compliant by October 1st if they intend to match on Broberg and/or Holloway. Making a large offer sheet next summer to Neighbours (and it would most likely have to be a big number) seems out of their reach.