ST. LOUIS — Every time Philip Broberg is asked about his offensive skill, the St. Louis Blues defenseman steers the conversation back to his play in his own zone.
“I take pride in my defensive skill as well,” Broberg said.
With a point in each of his first six games with the Blues, becoming just the ninth defenseman in NHL history to have an opening six-game point streak with an organization, Broberg is making it hard not to talk about that side of his game. He is tied with Jordan Kyrou for the club lead in points.
“You can focus on that part, or you can focus on his overall game, which I think is really impressive,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “The size, the skating, outstanding stick … he’s making very quiet plays that don’t really have a lot to do with the game itself but are very smart plays.
“His hockey IQ is high and then his ability takes over. Just reading that next play, he’s an extremely smart hockey player. He had an outstanding game again (in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes). He’s just continuing to build his game and get better. He is playing extremely well.”
Bannister is correct in that if you’re looking at the points, you’re missing the point.
In six games, Broberg has been on the ice for six goals for and just one against at all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick. In 103 minutes and 19 seconds of five-on-five play, he’s been on the ice for five goals for and none against.
Simply put, the 6-foot-4, 212-pound defenseman couldn’t be playing much better.
“You want to have a good start, and the guys have helped me a lot to feel comfortable in here, and we’ve just got to keep going,” Broberg said.
Philip Broberg found the scoresheet with the @StLouisBlues, making him the ninth defensemen in NHL history to record a point in at least his first six games with a franchise.#NHLStats Live Updates: https://t.co/J2uPZGoaiZ pic.twitter.com/aNDS2ahpQq
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 20, 2024
Broberg has helped the Blues solidify their No. 2 defensive pairing following a season-ending surgery for Torey Krug. He’s taken Krug’s spot alongside Justin Faulk, and in 89:40 of five-on-five ice time together, they’ve been on the ice for two goals for and none against.
“(Faulk) is a very good player and a good veteran to learn from,” Broberg said. “You want to build chemistry, and it all comes from talking to each other on the ice, helping each other and knowing where the other guy is.”
Their chemistry has been so good that when Nick Leddy left the lineup with a lower-body injury, Bannister elevated Ryan Suter to the top pair with Colton Parayko and kept the Broberg-Faulk pairing intact.
“They’re a pair that complements each other,” Bannister said. “They both have the ability to get up in the rush, move the puck really well and play heavy. The physicality part, being able to kill plays down low and along the walls, and then grab the puck and get going north with it, I’ve seen that from both of them. Certainly that pairing has played very well.”
Many Blues fans were hoping Broberg could play this well when the Edmonton Oilers decided not to match a two-year, $9.2 million offer sheet last summer. Few expected we’d see him perform this well this soon. But you can count Dylan Holloway, who came with Broberg to St. Louis from Edmonton on his own offer-sheet deal, among those who saw it coming.
“Oh man, Broby has been so good,” Holloway said. “I’ve been telling people! I’ve been a big Broby fan. He’s playing with so much confidence right now. So it’s nice to see him get the success that he deserves, and I’m sure there’s more to come.”
But before we see what Broberg has coming, let’s look back at what he’s done thus far. Here are video clips from each of the Blues’ six games, highlighting the various aspects of his overall game.
Carolina, 4-3 W
Time on ice: 21:26
Points: 1 assist
On ice for goals for/against (all strengths): 2-1 (penalty-kill goal against)
The score: Blues 2, Hurricanes 1 (2nd period)
The play: I’m going to break this sequence into two segments. First, the Hurricanes successfully exit their defensive zone and center Seth Jarvis receives the puck in the offensive zone. But just as Bannister said, Faulk and Broberg did a great job of closing out plays along the boards. This time, it’s Faulk stripping the puck away from Jarvis and moving it to Brayden Schenn, who feeds it to Mathieu Joseph. Suddenly, possession is headed the other way.
Let’s pause the video here to show you where Broberg is when Joseph gets the puck. He is still below the dots but gets his big stride going.
Now let’s pick up the play again.
Broberg catches up to the rush and takes a dropback pass from Holloway just inside the offensive blue line. He fights off the Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov to get to the inside and then blows past Brent Burns. Now with Jaccob Slavin in front of him, Broberg makes a silky pass to Holloway, who goes between the legs for the finish and the goal.
That’s three NHL All-Stars in Svechnikov, Burns and Slavin, and Broberg makes them look like traffic cones.
Time on ice: 22:01
Points: 1 assist
On ice for goals for/against (all strengths): 1-0
The score: Blues 0, Islanders 0 (OT)
The play: There have been a combined 63 shots on net from the Blues and Islanders and none of them have gone in the net. With under three minutes to play in overtime, Broberg helps change that. He takes a pass from Blues goalie Joel Hofer at the red line and skates into the offensive zone. He’s got Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech between him and the net, but with teammate Jake Neighbours streaking, Broberg floats the puck through Pelech to Neighbours, who tips it past goalie Ilya Sorokin for the OT game winner. Another All-Star defenseman victimized, another goal.
Time on ice: 16:26
Points: 1 assist
On ice for goals for/against (all strengths): 1-0
The score: Wild 3, Blues 0 (3rd period)
The play: The Wild are in control, but the Blues, who had already orchestrated two comeback wins in the young season, are pressing for offense. The Wild’s Liam Öhgren gets possession of the puck and tries to clear it quickly. But before Öhgren can swat it out of the zone, Broberg takes his left hand off his stick and, holding it only in his right hand, reaches out and breaks up the passing attempt. With the puck loose, Blues forward Zack Bolduc gathers it and feeds ahead to Joseph, who scores the Blues’ only goal of the game against Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson.
Vegas, 4-3 L
Time on ice: 19:30
Points: 1 assist
On ice for goals for/against (all strengths): 1-0
The score: Blues 1, Golden Knights 1 (1st period)
The play: It’s a fairly innocent-looking play, but it could have turned into a scoring chance. It starts with Vegas’ Tomáš Hertl flipping the puck over Faulk’s head into the neutral zone, making it a one-on-one between Broberg and the Golden Knights’ Alexander Holtz. If Holtz comes up with the puck, he could have a lane to the net, or he could dish the puck to teammate Pavel Dorofeyev. But here’s a perfect example of how Broberg and Faulk have been doing their jobs so well: Broberg’s physicality, stick and skating ability allow him to take the puck away from Holtz, while Faulk has Dorofeyev blanketed. The puck leaves the zone and Broberg heads to the bench after another successful shift.
San Jose, 4-3 OTW
Time on ice: 18:27
Points: 1 assist
On ice for goals for/against (all strengths): 0-0 (left the ice before the puck entered net)
The score: Blues 1, Sharks 1 (1st period)
The play: Long before the Blues would erase a 4-1 San Jose lead and win in OT on Brayden Schenn’s game winner, the score was tied in the first period. The Sharks’ No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini was making his NHL debut and had already notched his first career goal. Celebrini was trying to create another scoring chance when he tried cutting through the faceoff dot. That’s where Celebrini runs into Broberg, who stops him in his tracks with a poke check, knocking the puck loose. He exits the zone with a pass to teammate Kyrou, and the threat is extinguished.
Seattle, 3-2 W
Time on ice: 20:23
Points: 1 goal
On ice for goals for/against (all strengths): 1-0
The score: Kraken 2, Blues 1 (2nd period)
The play: The Blues were trailing 2-0 early in the second period and things weren’t looking pretty. But they got a power-play goal from Kyrou and then Broberg gets his first goal as Blue. It’s a bit of a busted play, as Neighbours attempts to carry the puck into the slot area, but stumbles and loses possession. Holloway gathers it back and passes to Faulk at the point, who swings it to Broberg on the far side. Broberg sizes up goalie Philipp Grubauer and rips a wrist shot past the netminder. That tied the score at two; 20 seconds later Kyrou added another, which proved to be the game winner.
The score: Blues 3, Kraken 2 (3rd period)
The play: The Blues hold off the Kraken by keeping them without a shot for 11 minutes down the stretch. With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Jordan Eberle kicks the puck ahead to himself in the offensive zone. But Nico Sturm stays alert, pouncing on the puck and not allowing Eberle to get control. The puck slides further into the zone and Seattle’s Matty Beniers is desperate to come up with it. But again, Broberg uses his stick reach to whack it off the boards to Holloway, who clears the zone. Once again, danger averted.
(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
