Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
Ultimately the Oilers can put a lot of this on Kevin Lowe.
He had the 17th pick in the 2003 draft. He traded down to 23 and received additional picks to do so. You could say he passed on a chance to take Getzlaf....he than declined to take Kesler.
Later that year when it was time to trade hold out Mike Comrie he demanded that Comrie and Winters kick in 2 million dollars to the Oilers so he could trade him to Anaheim for a package of Corey Perry and a first round pick. According to Lowe it wasn't enough so Comrie's camp needed to pay him off.
They than proceded to give Andrew Cogliano to the Ducks.
In short Lowe first declined a chance to take Getzlaf, than deferred on Kesler to go after Marc-Andre chicken boy (a guy who got destroyed in the top prospects game and actually was experienced at losing at that point in time). Later on he said no to Cory Perry instead taking Jeff Woywitka.
Kevin Lowe is a gift that keeps on giving. Admittedly many passed on these guys...but Lowe is a bit more direct in doing so.
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You can put a lot of things on Kevin Lowe, trading down in the draft not as much. The Corey Perry and a first round draft pick in exchange for Comrie was such a fumble that I can't help but shake my head as to how he stayed employed. Not only did he make a much worse trade, but the damage to Edmonton's reputation as a team was cemented by holding a player hostage before allowing for a trade to go through. Why would a player choose to go to a team that treated their players like that.
He proved himself to be a petty, self righteous, and foolish manager whose reign of ineptitude was only saved by a lottery ball. The one thing that I don't like about a lot of Edmonton fans was that they act as if it was all sort of a master plan, the walking in the desert of the lottery picks for longer than the Jews in the desert.