Could Blues' offer-sheet gambles change NHL landscape?

Those seven points by Broberg would be good for second on the Oilers and are far ahead of the struggling defenseman Evan Bouchard, who has just two points in seven games after scoring 82 last season. Holloway's three goals would tie for the team lead on Edmonton.

Does the success the Blues have had mean more offer sheets could be coming? It's possible.

St. Louis overpaid for Broberg, handing him an annual average value of $4.58M after just 81 career games and only 12 regular-season games played in 2023-24.

To add Broberg, a former eighth overall pick with plenty of potential, the Blues had to make sure Edmonton would not match the offer. In recent years, there's been an uptick in risky contracts given out to RFAs. New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes, the first overall pick in 2019, signed an eight-year, $64M contract extension in 2021 after just two seasons in which he scored at a 0.44 points-per-game pace.

As an RFA, Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl signed an eight-year, $68M contract with Edmonton in the summer of 2017. Coming off just his third NHL season, Draisaitl had recently set a career high in points with 77 after scoring 51 in 72 games the previous season.

Both of these gambles have worked out incredibly well for each team, as Hughes has since scored 238 points in 199 games. Meanwhile, Draisaitl has since secured an Art Ross, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award and is one of the NHL's premier scorers.

As St. Louis finds itself rewarded for its gamble, other teams may soon follow suit, just as many teams did in securing their promising young players with long-term deals.

With the salary cap expected to jump to about $92.5M next season, there's reason to think other teams might also throw out a risky offer sheet to RFAs such as Bouchard, Toronto's Matthew Knies or the New York Islanders' Noah Dobson.

If Broberg and Holloway continue to find success in St. Louis, the Blues' shrewd maneuvering of the RFA system will likely have its copycats.