Quote:
Originally Posted by trumpethead
-The Thomas Vanek $50M offer sheet miss (which Buffalo matched because they had just lost Briere)
-The Dustin Penner offer sheet hit (which drew the ire of the media and Brian Burke at the time). Penner turned out to be a bust
|
I don't understand the backlash over the offer sheets. They are in the CBA, and thus if you follow all the rules of the CBA, you haven't done anything wrong procedurally. The Ducks had cap issues, Edmonton had money to spend and Penner signed the offer. Burke thought it was far too much money to pay for Penner, and said it would impact all 30 teams. He was most upset over Penner's raise from $450k to $4.25M. To me, it seemed like whining from a guy who lost a player. If someone else puts a value on a player that you deem high, then don't match it. What Burke considers appropriate for Penner is irrelevant to any of the other 29 teams. The Ducks got a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick for Penner. He should be thanking Lowe for that. If Lowe offered that amount, wouldn't you take that if you were Burke?
Fun Fact: The 2nd round pick in 2008 was used by Anaheim to pick Justin Schultz. Schultz, obviously, now plays horribly for the Oilers.
I don't mind blasting Lowe for overpaying for Penner, but he didn't do anything wrong by using the offer sheet. With the Vanek one, just because Buffalo said not to do it, doesn't mean he shouldn't have done it. It's a perfectly legit way to acquire a player, even if the other team doesn't like it.