Defenceman Philip Broberg of the Edmonton Oilers was relegated to the AHL Bakersfield Condors this week amid rumours of a trade and inquiries into how the information leaked.
The fact that management and the player agency seemed to have misunderstood the events—to put it politely—caused quite a fuss.
There’s no way this story will go close to the most well-known demotions in franchise history, even if it dominated Edmonton sports headlines for a few hours. It’s likely that Broberg will quickly return to the NHL, maybe with the Oilers. In actuality, he is currently the team’s seventh-best defenseman in terms of talent.
Although recalls have garnered more attention from fans than demotions in the 44 years the team has been in the NHL, both have had notable occurrences.
These rank highest in team history.
1. Mark Messier sent down to the Houston Apollos, October 1979.
Mark Messier was not scoring (1-2-3) through the first nine games of his rookie campaign, and coach Glen Sather sent him to the minors. Messier scored just one goal in his first pro season with the WHA Oilers, and despite a rambunctious style and speed to burn, he was not helping the team in October 1979.
He was sent to the minors, but the on-ice performance was just part of the reasoning.
The big part of the story involved the young forward’s personal “planes, trains and automobiles” odyssey that fall. Depending on who and what you believed, he missed a practice, missed a bus in Vancouver, and was late for a mid-morning flight on a Monday. Other stories had Messier going to the municipal airport instead of the Edmonton International Airport. It was headline news at the time.
Sather sent him out and called up Dan Newman and Mike Toal. Messier returned two weeks later to continue what would be a Hall of Fame career.
2. Grant Fuhr optioned to the Moncton Alpines, January 1983
Grant Fuhr delivered an exceptional rookie season in 1981-82, but the following season was another matter.
In a game against the Detroit Red Wings in early January, Fuhr allowed four goals and the home crowd was decidedly unimpressed. Fuhr was most upset and vocal about fan reaction in the postgame scrum, and for many days later the city was aflame with the quotes from Edmonton’s young impact goaltender.
Edmonton sent Fuhr to the minors. He would author many of the greatest moments in team history, including a 1-0 shutout in the single most pivotal game the Oilers ever played.
Fuhr is a calm and humble person, who in a moment of pique as a young man, said the wrong thing in front of the gathered media.
He recovered from a difficult moment, was key to Edmonton’s Stanley Cups, and flourished through 2000. There’s a lesson for current Oilers management in his story.
His exceptional career and Hall of Fame membership serves as proof of his greatness.
3. Sheldon Souray loaned to the Hersey Bears, October 2010
You had to be there.
During the decade of darkness, which began in the hours after the Chris Pronger trade and extended through to the Connor McDavid draft lottery, many fine players passed through Edmonton. Souray was such a player.
He enjoyed an exceptional season with the club in 2008-09, scoring 23 goals and 53 points while playing strong defence with an intimidating edge. He was wildly popular with fans and often the talk of the town for various on-ice reasons.
Injuries had an impact on his demotion, but communication with management was poor. Souray’s frustrations boiled over in the presence of enterprising reporter Mark Spector and the story unfolded in an explosive way. Souray to Spector: “I don’t talk to anyone (in management) and I don’t expect to when I check out of here. I don’t really need to talk to them. There isn’t anything to say. Management has soured on me, and I’ve soured on them. The fans are great, they’ve accepted me here, I see the jerseys in the stands. I couldn’t have pictured a more opposite vision of what my experience here would be like. What the organization here would be like, overall.”
The 2008-09 Oilers defence is one of the best in team history. Souray, puck mover Lubomir Visnovsky and veteran Jason Strudwick were helped by youngsters Tom Gilbert, Denis Grebeshkov and Ladislav Smid. Keeping that group together would have been a plan.
Souray would move on and play effectively for two more seasons. The Oilers continued to wander in the wilderness.
4. Jack Campbell sent to the Bakersfield Condors, November 2023
Since it’s so fresh, ranking this transaction is difficult to put into historical perspective.
It has a lot of intrigue around it. Ken Holland, Edmonton’s general manager, signed Campbell to a five-year deal and eschewed the idea of sending his veteran stopper out despite clear struggles in the first year of the contract.
This year, Holland is fulfilling the final year of his deal and there are indications that the power player in the front office (new CEO Jeff Jackson) is doing the things Holland may have been hesitant to do in order to fix the team.
Campbell’s demotion is one of them, the firing of Jay Woodcroft is another. Those moves don’t rhyme with Holland’s patient pass, but do fall in line with the Daryl Katz aggressiveness fans have seen from the owner over the years.
Campbell is close to a recall, and waters could be calmed with strong NHL performances.
Demotions
An NHL team needs a place to develop talent, but also a place for struggling or injured players to rediscover their game. In the case of Broberg, it’s a matter of games and minutes in multiple roles.
Edmonton needs value contracts and badly needs players whose best days are ahead of them.
Oilers history shows all kinds of issues that led to time in the minors and a variety of outcomes for player and organization.
It’s obvious the best outcome for the franchise and Broberg is to find a way to make it work.
If things go awry, it represents failure and could continue a long and frustrating series of transactions that sees the Oilers receive less than full value.
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