Philip Broberg takes the high road after leaving the Oilers for St. Louis

As with anyone involved in the world of sports media, I've had a mixture of right and wrong predictions over the years. However, this includes times when a prediction has turned out correct, but the preference would have been for it to not be so.

One recent -- and relevent -- prime example of this was after the St. Louis Blues initially tendered their offer sheet for Philip Broberg. At the time, I predicted that he was going to leave the Edmonton Oilers.

There were a couple of reasons for this, with the first being the $4,580,917 x two years which the Blues were offering Broberg. The Oilers were already in a tenuous position with their salary cap for the 2024-25 season, and this offer sheet only made that position even more potentially precarious.

The second reason for my prediction, was due to early last season when Broberg's camp asked the Oilers front office for permission to seek a trade. Even though this came to nothing, this seemed to indicate/prove the young blue liner not being happy in Edmonton.

This second reason was subsequently given more validity, when Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the relationship between Broberg and the Oilers was broken and essentially beyond repair, He was unhappy about how he'd been used -- or more to the point not used -- by the Oilers.

Leaving Edmonton on a high note

You might have thought any bad feelings would have at least subsided during the playoffs, specifically during the Stanley Cup Final when Broberg showed for the first time what he was truly capable of. That coach Kris Knoblauch decided to trust Broberg over Vincent Desharnais on the biggest stage the NHL had to offer, theoretically spoke volumes.

In the end though, it clearly wasn't enough. Despite that undoubted high ceiling with Broberg, it would seem the apparent fractured relationship combined with the amount of the offer from the Blues, persuaded the Oilers to let him walk.

With all this said, the 23-year-old could have quite easily decided to take a shot at the Oilers organisation, but instead took a mature approach when discussing his now former employer. As per NHL.com, he said: "At the end of the day, it's business. I'm very excited for the opportunity here in St. Louis. I'm very thankful for the years in Edmonton as well and for the teammates and coaches I had there. I'm looking forward to a new chapter in St. Louis now."

Why St. Louis?!?!

For Broberg to even accept the Blues' offer sheet in the first place, might have surprised some people, but it shouldn't have. And not just because it was nearly four times what the Oilers were apparently trying to re-sign him for.

In addition, people need to look past the Blues not being as talented an overall team as the Oilers, and having missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. This is still an organisation striving to compete with the best, having won the Stanley Cup as recently as 2018-19, and proven by their double offer sheet for Broberg and Dylan Holloway.

Along these lines, the 2019 eighth overall draft pick is looking forward to playing in St. Louis. He said: "It's been wild. I'm very excited to be a Blue and I'm very looking forward to meeting everybody and getting to know the staff and everybody and teammates. I'm just excited. … I think this team has some very good young guys and I would like to help the team in any way I can. I'm looking forward to see what we can do next year."

Overall, it's a shame from an Oilers' perspective that Broberg is gone, but they had the opportunity to match the Blues' offer and declined to do so. Whether they eventually regret this remains to be seen, but at least he took the high road on his way out of town.

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