That's a no from EDM.

Why? They will not play Broberg before he leaves as a FA.

1.) Because Middleton is a LD that the team can't invest more assets or cap in than they already have.
2.) In line with the above, they'll already likely be looking to divest from Kulak despite his effectiveness.
3.) Broberg is a talented, young, and likely very affordable option for a team focused on winning to have.

As for him "leaving in FA", he's only just now going to be an RFA for the first time so he can't just up and leave. He'd need to either be traded (which I believe would be against EDM's best interests) or be offersheeted, if he's even eligible for such (which I don't think he is).

Lastly, he's 22 and there doesn't need to be this panic about him not being on the team already. 22 and 23 are completely normal ages for Dmen to secure a spot in the NHL.

Kings accept unless the want a prospect swap or add him to a trade.

Edmonton has never spent the time and effort to develop a high end young defensive prospect. What evidence aside from "economics" is there to suggest anything else?

Oilers don’t have the cap space and that’s an easy no if they did

Even Edmonton can afford a 2 million dollar defenseman

The oilers already have kulak (2.750) as the third pair left side dman. Broberg is worth more than an expensive third pair dman. It will be more worth it to offload kulak and use broberg and save the cap space. So trading broberg for Middleton who isn’t needed would be a horrible move imo

What does this trade have to do with the trading of Kulak? Of course Edmonton can trade Kulak and get a capable 3rd pair d-man from the Wild at a cheaper price???

I’m saying, if the oilers are going to trade for a cheap 3rd pair dman they’d rather broberg than Middleton. Also I’m trying to make you understand broberg is worth way more than middleton

The way you're phrasing this comes off as needlessly combative, but I'll assume that's not your intent. To answer, they spent plenty of time developing each of Klefbom, Nurse, and Bouchard into the defensemen they became so I'm afraid your point is factually incorrect. Each of them is/was a top pairing Dmen that EDM developed completely in-house.


As for this, it's not as simple as "can they afford him?". It's more about what's the optimal use of the limited cap space they'll have and does the ~1.5mil difference between Middleton and Broberg's likely new contract fit within that? The opinion of me and the other EDM fans here is no. That isn't intended to be a slight against Middleton, though. By all accounts he's been a pretty solid supporting top-4 D since he partnered with Karlsson in SJ. The point is that the cap space (or the asset of Broberg) is better off being used to reinforce other areas on the roster and not one of the roster's strong points.

Middleton is NOT a 3rd pairing defenseman! He’s a very good #2!

On Edmonton's roster he'd be on the 3rd pairing though. He won't play ahead of Nurse or Ekholm. The trade simply makes no sense for Edmonton.