Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway will make their return to Edmonton Saturday night, and in an interview before facing his former team, Broberg highlighted a problem of player development with the Edmonton Oilers.
Oilers president Jeff Jackson recently revealed that improper player development created a lack of trust from Broberg that ruined the relationship.
Speaking with the Hockey News ahead of playing the Oilers, Broberg was asked if he regrets leaving Edmonton, and he stressed he wanted more ice time.
"It's tough to say. Obviously you want to play your best and play all the time, I guess. But I'm happy with the situation I'm in right now here in St. Louis."
It's interesting to hear that Broberg doesn't outwardly deny any regret for leaving the team, and mostly just lamented his ice time. Obviously, he's happy now in St. Louis with that opportunity he deserves.
Broberg described his early-season success to the freedom of playing his style of hockey in St. Louis. In 15 games, he has an impressive 12 points.
"I think most of my game comes from my skating, just working hard on the ice and taking space away," Broberg said. "I think it all starts with my skating and trusting my instincts."
However, if the Oilers given him the opportunity he had in last year's playoffs through the season, Broberg may be still thriving in Edmonton. His playing style fits exactly what works with the Oilers' elite forwards, and coach Paul Coffey.
The more happy-go-lucky personality in Holloway expressed more tough feelings about leaving the Oilers, but still said he was happy in St. Louis too.
Oilers' problematic player development led to loss of Philip Broberg
Just earlier this week, Jeff Jackson touched upon these exact problems that led to the loss of Philip Broberg.
"I think ultimately it comes down to the player just probably not having trust in the organization We didn't have a player development department, per se back then. There wasn't a plan."
The Oilers had no player development strategy with Broberg, no communication and left him buried behind veterans when he was an NHL talent. Broberg was clearly frustrated, requested a trade and then made his move out of Edmonton when he could.
What's reassuring is that Jackson and Bowman are recognizing these past mistakes in player development and committing to better efforts in that department. It may sting the Oilers to lose a player of Broberg's caliber so soon, so they need to prevent it from happening again with other top prospects.
