SO GREAT: Oilers edmonton are bringing him back...

This in from the Edmonton Oilers, news that the team has recalled Philip Broberg, their 2019 first round draft pick, to the NHL from Bakersfield of the AHL.

“Don’t be surprised if he plays against both Arizona and Colorado,” said Bob Stauffer of the Oilers Radio Network.

1. Broberg has been crushing it in the AHL, playing heavy minutes and excelling at them by all accounts. He’s got 35 points in 48 games and is +9. He’s over ripe, as we used to say of Ken Holland’s Detroit Red Wings prospects way back when. He’s more than ready for the NHL, having played six seasons of senior pro hockey, three in Sweden, three in North America, all by the tender age of 22.

2. Some folks will never forgive the Oilers for drafting Broberg eighth overall in the 2019 draft. It’s true that some players taken after him, such as Anaheim’s controversial Trevor Zegras, Minnesota’s Matt Boldy, Montreal’s Cole Caufield and Dallas’ Thomas Harley, have developed fast than Broberg.

Of course, it’s also true that the vast majority of players drafted after him and a few drafted ahead of him, such as Alex Turcotte and Kaapo Kakko, have yet to shine brightly. At this point, none of that matters, at least not nearly so much as whether or not Broberg will ever pan out for the Oilers, and there’s still an excellent chance he will do so.

3. Broberg is big, fast, fundamentally sound on defence and a brilliant skater. He’s already had a solid run of consistently good play at the NHL level during the 2022-23 season when he was on the third-pairing with Evan Bouchard. But at the trade deadline that year, Edmonton moved out right shot d-man Tyson Barrie, allowing Bouchard to move up the roster and onto the top power play unit, while the team brought in left shot d-man in Mattias Ekholm, putting Broberg behind one outstanding veteran in Ekholm, and two solid ones in Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak.

SO GREAT: Oilers edmonton are bringing him back…

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