“The barn door has been opened” on Offer Sheets, says Agent

After the double-whammy of the St. Louis Blues successfully offer sheeting Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway of the Edmonton Oilers, it's fair to wonder if that will signal a new era of offer sheets in the NHL going forward. Insider Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic set out to investigate and found that it's quite possible that it has. One agent told LeBrun that “The barn door has been opened” on offer sheets.

The mystique of the offer sheet in NHL history comes very much from the fact that they are rare and, well, rarely work.

But for a sport so seldom used to seeing them, are they coming in waves soon?@PierreVLeBrun on the potential start of a trend ⤵️https://t.co/MFC88qoHoD pic.twitter.com/kEZNNQwXkP
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 23, 2024

The history of offer sheets in the NHL is a sketchy one, as LeBrun notes that "they are rare and, well, rarely work."

But if you talk to player agents, they, of course, love this potential new trend, as it improves the outlook of players' salaries. They figure this double-shot by the Blues will start a new trend.

“Make no mistake, the barn door has been opened," said Allan Walsh of Octagon. "The world did not come to an end, and the Blues offer-sheet strategy allowed the club to successfully sign two young players that filled a critical need. In a hard-cap system, with over 10 teams at or above the upper limit, I expect we’ll see more teams targeting specific players using offer sheets. I don’t know if offer sheets will become commonplace or routine, but we’ll certainly be seeing more of them going forward.”

Agent J.P. Barry added, "With so many teams at or over the cap using (long-term injured reserve), I do expect another one next summer if a team is similarly exposed (as the Oilers were)."

But, as you might expect, NHL general managers don't feel that a big uptick in offer sheets is necessarily coming. It can be a tricky situation for them, whether they're on the offering or receiving end of one.

“I don’t think it will have an overall huge effect on the number we see going forward,” Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin told LeBrun. “Teams need to do what they feel is right for them. If it’s an offer sheet, then so be it. You’re trying to make your team better, not make another worse.”

Seattle Kraken GM Ron Francis concurred. “They are in the CBA and have been for a while so I don’t think that what happened this summer will necessarily lead to a lot more.”

LeBrun summarizes, however, by feeling that the whole offer sheet scenario might not be as rare as it once was after this summer's bombshell. "It absolutely opens the door at least a crack toward normalizing what has always been taboo."