It's been an eventful season so far for Philip Broberg. In fact, it's probably been his most eventful since being drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 2019.
Broberg has so far failed to live up to the potential which saw him selected eighth overall by the Oilers. While he still has an upside which sees him as an all-around talent capable of being in a top pairing, there is a growing suspicion he might be better off starting over in another organisation.
Alluding to this, earlier this season Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reported that the Oilers had apparently given permission to Broberg's camp to seek a trade. However, general manager Ken Holland responded by claiming no such permission had been given.
Regardless of who was telling the truth, it doesn't change the fact that the 22-year-old had a disappointing start to the 2023-24 campaign. He saw his ice time go down as he progressed through his 10 games for the Oilers, before being assigned to Bakersfield to work on his game (and confidence).
In fairness, Broberg has played well since with the Condors, providing solid defence and key offence in his 29 games to date. As a result, he is tied for the team lead with a +11 rating, and is third with 18 assists.
More 'drama' for Broberg
Of course, with how this season has gone for the Sweden native as a whole, nothing is seemingly 'allowed' to go smoothly for him. Along these lines, The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman is reporting the defenceman will miss the Condors' next two contests through injury.
Nugent-Bowman goes on to write that Broberg sustained a deep bruise in Saturday's game at San Jose, in a 4-2 loss to the Barracuda. On the plus side, he is expected to return to the lineup this coming weekend, when the Condors host the very same Barracuda team.
Any absence of Broberg is understandably a tough situation for the Condors, who are playing catchup to the rest of the league in terms of games in hand. While they are only seventh in the Pacific Division at the time of posting, they have the fifth-best points percentage in the entire Western Conference.
Of more importance to the Oilers though, their highest rated prospect is a valuable asset who they're considering moving prior to the Mar. 8 trade deadline. As per the Edmonton Journal's David Staples, Seravalli firmly believes Broberg will be a significant part of the Oilers' deadline.
While there are some who would go as far as to call Broberg a bust, this writer has previously stated they don't believe the Oilers should move on from him, at least not yet. It's still too soon to give up on such a talented prospect, no matter how much he's unperformed thus far.
At the same time, it does of course depend on who Holland is able to bring on board in exchange, if Broberg is indeed moved. Certainly, it figures to be an interesting three+ weeks between now and the trade deadline.