Evan’s NHL Daily: Offer Sheets (Kind Of) Work, Kraken Make Commitment

We don’t get them often, but offer sheets work…kind of. On Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers refused to match the offer sheets signed by Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, meaning the last three offer sheets seen in the NHL have not been matched. The only problem? While Doug Armstrong talked a big game afterwards, a second trade between the teams show he kind of felt bad about it.

Seattle made a big commitment up front on Tuesday to a Calder winner coming off a down season. Will it pay off for them or did they make a mistake?

Colorado Hockey Now

Yes, the Avalanche have Justus Annunen and Ilya Nabokov, so it would seem like their future in net is fine, but you just never know with goalies. That’s why I think they should be calling about Yaroslav Askarov.

He couldn’t really hang in the NHL last year, and now the Flyers are looking to do what they can to get rid of the contract of Ryan Johansen.

Since many have asked, I haven’t heard anything about the Avalanche being punished in this situation. If that was going to happen, I think we would have heard about it by now.

News And Rumors

Fox: The Blues got their guys, as the Oilers decided not to match the offer sheets for Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg.

They overpaid for two decent young players, but I guess they aren’t close to the cap, so it doesn’t matter much from a Blues perspective. It doesn’t really make them that much better going into next season, though.

X: Doug Armstrong made some headlines for some fun quotes on Tuesday…

Army on offer sheets to Edmonton: "It was reported that I wouldn't have done this to Kenny Holland. That's the furthest thing from the truth. Quite honestly I'd do it to my mother if she was managing the Oilers. My job is to take care of St. Louis Blues' fans and organization."

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) August 20, 2024

Armstrong: "If there is a GM code not to do offer sheets, no one emailed it to me." #stlblues

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) August 20, 2024

Yeah, that’s great and all, but it doesn’t sound as cool when you realize that the Blues had to pay an extra third rounder and a prospect just for the offer sheets to work.

The St. Louis Blues have traded Paul Fischer, along with a third-round draft pick in 2028, to Edmonton in exchange for future considerations. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/1D6rg9m7ba

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) August 20, 2024

If you have to throw in a few extra assets to make the deal go through, then you might feel a little bad about doing it. No reason to be nice about it, it’s just business.

Seattle Times: The Seattle Kraken must be awfully confident that Matty Beniers will turn things around, because they made a big commitment to him on Tuesday with a seven-year, $50 million contract.

Beniers is a good player, but he’s not a franchise guy for an NHL team, at least in my opinion, so this does make some sense. If he was a franchise guy, he’d be getting a lot more. Still, it comes with risk, as he’s coming off a 37 point season. Most of Seattle took a step back from their crazy high shooting percentages, but it was a big drop for him. He’ll need to bounce back to show he’s worth it.

San Jose Hockey Now: One team that would really make sense for Askarov is the San Jose Sharks.

Montreal Hockey Now: One specific part of the Canadiens that could improve after getting Patrik Laine.