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It was an obvious move. Less obvious are the reasons it took the Edmonton Oilers two weeks to make it.

On Wednesday morning, the Oilers announced that beleaguered young defenceman Philip Broberg has been returned to Bakersfield Condors, recalling minor league veteran Ben Gleason to play the role of  seventh defenceman.

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Ken Holland’s first transaction as Oilers GM was to select the lanky Swedish blueliner with the #8 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. Big, fast, and skilled, the defender spent two more seasons in his native Sweden, then the last three splitting time between the NHL (79 games) and AHL (42 games). In the interim, Holland built a three-storey vbrick wall at left defence, signing and/or acquiring a trio of experienced NHL defenders in Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm and Brett Kulak who are all signed through at least 2026 with a combined cap hit of $18 million. Not that surprisingly, Broberg has been in tough to find a regular role.

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In recent days trade talk has been swirling around the 22-year-old as first reported by Kevin Weekes of NHL Network on Tuesday. The report was later fleshed out by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff: ““Understand the Oilers granted permission for Philip Broberg’s camp to seek a trade. Sounds like there has been solid interest on that front. Edmonton isn’t interested in getting a pick back, they’d like a player. So you’ll have to likely find a player in a similar situation.”

Oilers’ GM Ken Holland took issue with the framing of that report, telling TSN‘s Ryan Rishaug that such permission had not been granted by the club. Broberg’s agent Darrin Ferris then weighed in: “This matter reflects both my and my client’s frustration with the Oilers… I’m actively collaborating with Ken to address and resolve the issue privately.”

Call it an epic fail on “privately”, regardless of how the report got out into the public domain. (Most signs point to the agent.) But it’s easy to believe that Broberg has become frustrated with a situation that has seen him bounce back and forth between Edmonton, Bakersfield, and all too often the press box.

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That’s where he was situated for all 5 games of Edmonton’s current winning streak, having been benched during their last defeat, a 6-3 setback in Carolina back on Nov 22. He played just 5:17 in that game, despite the lion’s share of it being essentially garbage time after the Oil fell behind 4-0 within 15 minutes. Broberg had been burned on one of those goals and found himself watching most of its remainder from the bench. From there, he repaired to the press box as the coaching staff returned to the traditional 12F/6D deployment. Made sense for a game or two. But after 5 games watching from on high with a built-in 5-day schedule break it’s beyond high time the organization got this player back on the ice and playing hockey again, whether there are active trade talks or not.

Broberg had one previous stint in Bako this year after being sent out on Nov 04, playing 4 games and recording 2 assists. He was recalled on Nov 15 when Dylan Holloway was placed on Long Term Injured Reserve, but played just 2 games for the new coaching staff, averaging just 7:50 per night.

Into his spot as extra defenceman steps Ben Gleason, who impressed many with a fine training camp and preseason with the big club. He was among the last cuts, and by all reports has carried on with his solid play in Bakersfield with 2-7-9 and a team-leading +5 in 14 games.

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Undrafted, Gleason was signed by Dallas as a 20-year-old free agent. Since then the left-shot defender played 304 AHL games, producing 150 points. He received a 4-game cup of coffee in the NHL early in his first pro season, but it’s been 5 long years since he’s been in The Show. Now 25, he’s plenty experienced to fill in a reserve role in the NHL while the younger Broberg gets some all-important reps at the AHL level.

I asked friend of the blog Ira “Original Pouzar” Cooper — a regular observer of the Condors — for a scouting report on the recalled rearguard, and he responded in his customary timely fashion.

To my eye, Gleason’s game in the AHL this season looks a lot like the game we saw from him in training camp. He isn’t a “game-breaker” by any stretch of the imagination but he is a very solid 2-way defender. A solid game in his own zone, mainly from being positionally sound with a strong transition game. Similar to his exhibition season performances, Gleason is very confidant with the puck on his stick and a good transporter of the puck through the neutral zone. Nothing spectacular in the offensive one but he has decent offensive instincts.

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Recently he has played the right side paired with Markus Niemelainen. He doesn’t see any real PP time but is a fixture on the PK.

No real surprise on the recall as Ben Gleason was the surprise of camp and the d-man that left the biggest impact on the then-coaching staff and current management. He is also 25 years old, so that “stalling development” with a long stint of press box nights is not a concern. I would presume there is no plan to play Gleason in any actual NHL games and, if an injury occurs, he will be re-swapped with Broberg, however, with a handful of NHL games of experience, if there is a late scratch for injury, illness or personal reasons, I think Gleason can provide a solid 12 minutes in the 3rd pairing.

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