Philip Broberg is a top player for St. Louis, but contract talks haven't begun. The Blues are betting big on the former Oiler, who's proving them right.
Philip Broberg is a top extension candidate for the struggling St. Louis Blues, but no talks have begun, per The Athletic.
Since being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers via offer sheet, the 2019 eighth-overall pick has flourished in St. Louis, posting 29 points and a +21 rating last season while averaging 23:25 per game in 2025-26.
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He's a tad behind pace this year with 10 points in 26 games, but he's playing in every possible situation. Broberg was a future top-tier defenseman for the Oilers that the team let slip away, and now the Blues are trying to figure out how to retain him. While the Blues are trying to navigate what an extension looks like --- a deal could range from $6.7M to $8M annually -- the Oilers can only play 'what if' while thinking about what Broberg might have become.
If he winds up being the Blues' highest-paid defenseman, it will speak to just how much confidence they had in a player the Oilers chose to let walk away.
“He’s been incredible for us this year,” head coach Jim Montgomery said. “If our record was better, I think people would be talking about him a lot more in the league." He addes, "He has been a tremendous hockey player from the start of the year."
What the Oilers should be most disappointed about is how they lost a player whose reputation for competing hard is only growing. Montgomery said, “What I find is his attitude of being harder and firmer in battles and taking pucks to harder areas offensively has really made him a lot more dynamic offensively and in his 200-foot game." He added, "You can see his man strength has come out and he’s taken his game to another level, just the way he competes night in and night out."
Talk about a player trait the Oilers could surely use these days.
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