Oilers GM had no interest overpaying Broberg and Holloway

Stan Bowman has only been on the job as Edmonton Oilers GM for a very short period of time and has already dealt with a few tough decisions, including walking away from Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. With the St Louis Blues paying a premium for both players via offer sheets, Bowman implied it was a little bit easier to walk away than people think.

Bowman recently caught up with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and opened up about his thought process dealing with the Blues' offer-sheeting his two young RFAs:

The players can probably grow into those deals, but as of today, they're way above their actual performance. The way it's being portrayed is also a little bit unfair, that the Oilers were doing some sort of poor-faith negotiating, Bowman said. If you look at (Broberg and Holloway), based on their performance, there's lots of comparable players that have signed this summer and (in) recent years. It doesn't happen more often, Bowman continued. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I guess you could make the argument this should happen more.

Broberg and Holloway both signed two year deals with the Blues which will see Broberg make $4.58 million AAV, meanwhile Holloway will earn $2.29 million AAV. Holloway, 22, had nine points in 38 NHL games last season, meanwhile the 23-year-old Broberg hardly played for the Oilers last season until the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Swedish blueliner recorded three points in 10 playoff games. 

Edmonton moves on with some financial flexibility for some in-season additions as Bowman will be aggressive adding ahead of the trade deadline this season. The Oilers are looking to get back to the Stanley Cup Final and will certainly be a contender to win the Cup this season; Broberg and Holloway not included.

Photo credit:  Sergei Belski-Imagn Images