Why Are NHL Offer Sheets So Rare Today?

Something that hockey fans have wanted to see more of in the NHL has been offer sheets. In the past, they were once a bold tactic NHL GMs would use to acquire potential future stars. However nowadays, offer sheet signings are an event that is quite rare and are considered to be a risky move.

On Tuesday morning, hockey fans woke up to the news of this rare event happening once again. The St. Louis Blues signed Edmonton Oilers players Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to two-year offer sheets. Now the Oilers have seven days to decide whether to match the Blues’ offers, but they’re in a tough spot with their salary cap.

Oilers Blues NHL offer sheets

This move makes you wonder why more NHL teams don’t use this tactic. The last time teams used offer sheets was when the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes were involved. In 2021, the Hurricanes signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi after the Canadiens offer-sheeted Sebastian Aho two years before. Many people saw the Kotkaniemi signing as “revenge” against the Canadiens, even though the Hurricanes’ management at the time denied it.

Offer Sheets Are More Complex Behind The Scenes

Signing a player to an offer sheet isn’t easy as multiple considerations need to go behind it. Firstly, there’s the very real possibility that bad blood between teams can come out of this process. I can imagine that when one team attempts to sign another team’s young players, there definitely will be some hard feelings especially if the player has value. These feelings can also affect future relationships between GMs to the point where their business tactics are negatively affected. Therefore, the entire process can be viewed as extremely contentious.

Then there’s also the compensation. When it comes to offer-sheeting players, the compensation a team receives for a player depends on the value of the contract being offered. Going back to Kotkaniemi’s contract, he was offered a one-year, $6.1 million offer sheet by the Hurricanes. Since the Canadiens didn’t match it, Carolina had to give up a first and a third-round pick in return. It’s also important to note that when teams give up draft picks, those assets need to be their own, not another team’s.

Additionally, there’s the concern about whether a player will live up to their contract. Offer sheets often result in overpaying a player due to a GM’s aggressive approach. The Blues offered Broberg an AAV of $4.58 million, which can be described as an overpay for where he’s at right now in his NHL development. While he’s still quite young, he’s also unproven and hasn’t exactly earned the type of money that’s given to top-four NHL defensemen.

Is This Process Worth The Risk?

In today’s NHL where connections are more important than ever, are offer sheets really worth it? GMs heavily risk the scenario where they can burn bridges between each other which can affect future negotiations. On the flip side, teams in this league will do everything in their power to make themselves better, even if that means they need to ruffle some feathers.

Offer sheets are a great way for NHL teams to showcase their desire for aggression. In the Blues’ case, Holloway and Broberg would be excellent pieces to add to their young core for the future. For the Oilers, GM Stan Bowman has some tough decisions to make as his team is currently over the salary cap. Will the Oilers lose both of their former first-round picks or will they have to choose? It’s an interesting development stemming from a move that is now very rarely seen in the present-day NHL.

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Why Are NHL Offer Sheets So Rare Today?