Tuesday’s news proved that business never sleeps in the NHL, even during the dog days of summer. Recent reports that the St. Louis Blues are attempting to sign Edmonton Oilers’ RFAs Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to offer sheets have likely woken other teams up to the reality that their own restricted free agents could be at risk. No more is that the case than in Boston, where goaltender Jeremy Swayman remains unsigned.
Swayman is an attractive option in goal and while the odds of losing him to an offer sheet are likely low, who would have seen dual offer sheets coming from the same team to an organization where the Blues’ current GM and the Oilers’ former GM were quite close?
Are the Bruins At Risk With Swayman?
With the Oilers now having seven days six days to match the offer from the Blues or take the compensation, the Bruins could be the target of a similar play by another NHL franchise. Swayman is a top-tier goaltender in line for a sizeable raise. He’s said to be working on a deal with the organization, but one hasn’t been announced yet. There’s a history of tension between the two sides, with Swayman being taken to arbitration last season, a move he openly expressed frustration about.
Bruins’ CEO Charlie Jacobs told the media recently, “I try not to comment on player personnel contract negotiations. We are still negotiating with Sway.” He added, “I hope that he’s ready to play come training camp. We have some things to work out. I’m sure we’ll get there.” Meanwhile, Swayman could sign an offer sheet with another team, if one were tendered.
As the Oilers found out this week, offer sheets are a rare but powerful tool in the NHL. If done correctly, they put a team in an awkward spot where tough decisions have to be made. The Blues knew what they were doing when they limited the offers to Broberg and Holloway to two years, kept the salaries to a point where compensation was minimal, and targeted a team with salary cap issues and contracts for elite stars on the horizon.
Realistically, a team could do something similar to the Bruins. However, there are a few key differences.
Why the Bruins Are Less Concerned than The Oilers Should Have Been
The recent offer sheet attempts by the Blues on Broberg and Holloway reportedly involved offers of $4,580,917 and $2,290,457, respectively. These offers would require the Blues to compensate the Oilers with just a second and third-round pick, making the risk relatively low for St. Louis. In the case of Swayman, any offer worth making would need to exceed the $8.6 million the team has in available salary cap space. And, that’s assuming the Bruins aren’t prepared to move a couple of pieces to make more room if necessary.
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If a team were to offer the high end of $10 million (a number tough to match), the Bruins would receive a substantial package, including at least two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a third-round pick. The high cost of such an offer sheet significantly reduces the likelihood that a rival team would target Swayman.
Not only do few teams have both the cap space and the required draft picks to make a legitimate offer (the draft picks need to be their own), but these teams must have a need in goal. The combination of such factors makes an offer sheet extremely unlikely, even if possible.
Was it wise for the Bruins to trade Linus Ullmark before inking Swayman to a new deal? Probably not. Was it smart to take Swayman to arbitration and risk him being disgruntled with the organization? Maybe that could have been avoided. Are the Bruins more worried today than they were yesterday about an offer sheet? It’s doubtful.
The Oilers were in a position that made them an easier target. They had two players in just the right situations and the club was in a bad spot based on their cap situation and their past development of both players. That’s less of an issue in Boston.