K-Lo strikes again

Kevin Lowe, you are more desperate then a twice divorced 40-something on Rogaine.

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Edmonton Oilers have signed Anaheim Ducks forward Dustin Penner to a five-year, $21.25 million offer sheet on Thursday.

The deal is for $4.25 million per season, a huge raise over the league minimum $450,000 Penner earned last season in the last year of his entry-level contract. The Ducks have seven days to match the offer. Should they decide not to match, the Ducks would receive one first-round draft pick, a second-round pick and a third-round pick from the Oilers.

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Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe went after a team that doesn't have much room under the salary cap. The Stanley Cup champion Ducks are around $48 million. The Penner signing would push the Ducks over the $50.3 million maximum, but a team is allowed to be over the salary cap by 10 percent until Oct. 1.

Professional sports is a cut throat business. Unlike others in the hockey world, I'm not sticking pins in a voodoo doll of K-Lo because he went after other team's RFAs. He is the GM of a team, and as such, he has an obligation to get the job done. But do I think this mess was of his own creation? Absolutely. And do I think he is screwing other teams and the NHL in the long term? Hell yeah. So while I dont blame Lowe for going after RFAs, I do worry about the long term repercussions of that action.

As usual, Mike Vogel puts it better (and less crudely) then this blogger:

One or two renegade GMs can skew the league’s salary structure and impact contract negotiations around the league for years to come. It’s what led to the lockout of 1994-95 and the lockout of 2004-05. I hate to even bring it up, but some of the foolishness we’re seeing now could be responsible for the next NHL lockout.

It’s great for players to be able to make as much money as they can, while they can. The career shelf life of a pro athlete is a very finite thing. The problem is that once profits began turning into losses, owners are always asking the players to empty their pockets. The most recent lockout was all about owners telling the players: “We can’t stop ourselves from spending, we need your help.” That help of course, came in the form of a salary cap and a 24% rollback of existing contracts at the time. What’s next? We can only wonder.

I dont know what the solution is. Vogel throws out a proposal from former Oakland Athletics owner Charles O. Finley, who suggested that players and teams negotiate a new one year contract every year, "because it would much more accurately reflect a player’s actual “worth” at any given time." Since I cant see the NHLPA agreeing to that any time soon, I guess we are at an impasse.

Kevin Lowe speaks (some more)

A few highlights from the disgruntled Edmonton GM's recent interview with the Edmonton Sun. The whole article is worth reading and keep in the mind the "other" wife they are referring to is Lauren Pronger. The free agent/trade situation is bad enough that Lowe is considering going after restricted free agents and paying the penalty in draft picks.

Inviting a pair of reporters to his house to tell his version of what happened in the Michael Nylander fiasco, Lowe painted a picture of another wife who didn't want to live here.

[Lowe] says he's going to hire a concierge for the players and wives to try to make this the happiest place to play on earth

"Facts are facts and the truth is the truth," he said of deciding to speak. Lowe said it was early afternoon July 1 when agent Gillis told him 'I think he'll take the deal. He wants to come, but his wife is uncertain.' "

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Then, [Lowe] pointed out, this columnist (Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones) called to inquire about the Washington Capitals announcement that they'd just signed Nylander.

Lowe finally reached Nylander.

"In a sombre voice, he told me 'I just couldn't do it.' It was like his wife freaked out, like she was being shipped to Siberia or something."

So what did GMGM have to say when Lowe called him?

"He told me he got a call from the player and cited the Mike Vernon judgment that a player is not signed until he's signed.

Lowe on attracting free agents:

"We spent a lot of time at this. Our inability to attract guys. What is it? The city? Me? What's the statement?"

He said none of the so called 'Big Three' - Daniel Briere, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez - were even open to discussion.

Its hard to read this article and not feel some sympathy for Kevin Lowe. But, this is the same man who traded away Ryan Smyth at the deadline for some prospects. The prospects might be ready in a couple years but Lowe knows that the Oilers need help now. And more importantly, he knew that at the trade deadline when he did a crap job of shopping around Smyth.

And jeez, stop blaming the wife. If a family feels like its not the best decision to move somewhere, thats a valid point.