Ex-Oiler Philip Broberg Goes Down With Big Injury

A promising start has been cut short.

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Or at least postponed. After Philip Broberg left Saturday's game between the St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs with an apparent knee injury, the Blues announced today that he'd miss the next four to six weeks.

Broberg was off to a blazing start for his new team, placing second on the Blues in points with 9 through his first 12 games. As one of only two regular Blues defencemen under the age of 30, Broberg was a breath of fresh air for a team stuck in the mushy middle ground between contention and rebuilding.

Already without their best player, Robert Thomas, for six weeks after he sustained a broken ankle on October 22nd, the loss of Broberg is a big blow for St. Louis. Only one Blues defender has an expected goal share above 50% this season, and that's Matthew Kessel at just 50.7%.

That brings us to an under-discussed portion of Broberg's renaissance. Despite the gaudy point totals and on-ice goals share (62.5%), his hot start looks to be unsustainable. His xG% stands at only 46.2%, just the fourth-highest on a struggling St. Louis blueline.

He's enjoyed an 18.2% shooting percentage to start the year, and has also benefited from playing with players like Pavel Buchnevich, Dylan Holloway, and Jake Neighbours who are all riding shooting percentages above 16% to start the year.

That's not to take anything away from Broberg, who really has had an eye-opening start while finally getting a real opportunity to play in St. Louis. But don't be surprised if he doesn't quite get the same results in his eventual return to the lineup.

At any rate, this means that Broberg likely won't make his return to Edmonton on December 7th when the Blues visit the Oilers, and we'll have to wait a little longer for the inevitable Philip Broberg Revenge Game.

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