It's Philip Broberg's Time To Shine With Torey Krug Sidelined
The 23-year-old defenseman was signed from Edmonton via offersheet at the end of August. There is a now an opening in the blueline. Can he take advantage?
News broke on Tuesday that Torey Krug would undergo surgery on his left ankle and miss the entire 2024-2025 season. The abundance of defenseman additions by St Louis this offseason makes a lot more sense now with this news. One addition in particular stands out as the player who could benefit the most from Krug's absence, and that's Philip Broberg.
Broberg came over from the Oilers along with Dylan Holloway via offer sheet in August. In Doug Armstrong's most aggressive move of the offseason, the Blues acquired a young and controllable defenseman. But Broberg has much more potential than just being your average defenseman.
Broberg is about to get a big opportunity.
Broberg has only played in 81 career NHL games, with his most in a season being forty six. He has two goals, eleven assists, thirteen points and is a -5 on the ice in his career. However, in Edmonton's run to the Stanley Cup this past spring, Broberg was outstanding.
In 10 games, he had two goals, one assist, three points and was a +8 on the ice. The big thing was averaging over 15 minutes a game. The Blues have been lacking a true number one defenseman that can play close to 20 minutes a night since Alex Pietrangelo left. While Broberg has a lot to show to get to that level, his young age and his play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs shows that the potential is there.
He's going to get every opportunity in the world with the Blues. He has top pair potential in him, but in all likelihood, he'll start on the second pair to open the season, but Blues fans should be very optimistic about this guy. The Blues finally have some exciting young defenseman on their blueline in Broberg and Kessel, something just a few years ago they weren't able to say.