Kevin Lowe passed up Corey Perry and a 1st for Mike Comrie because....

[krynski]

As old as the article is, it is really great to see hindsight 20/20.

In 2003, we didn't know what the true potential of Perry was. In 2014, we realize he is one of the consistent and dominant players in the NHL today. Mike Comrie was not. As Flames fans, we can see that this was a HUUUUGE piece contributing to how bad the Oilers are today. Having Perry and a 1st at that point could have changed the whole dynamic and prevented the landslide that they experienced for the last 8 years.

[sa226]

My remembrance of Comrie is a little murky, but how was he ever worth essentially 2 first round draft picks?

Corey Perry's potential notwithstanding

[browna]

The genesis for the reputation that Lowe has, and the Oilers as a whole, to this day.

Lowe thought thought he was being the white knight who would put his foot down against young guys cashing in. He thought the Oilers overpaid Comrie to get him into town for a playoff run.

Before this trade, in talks for the second deal, he wanted to pay Comrie less then his initial deal. Also, Comrie got a big bonus in one of the last games for scoring a certain number of points in the final year of that deal, when the Oilers didn't make the playoffs. Lowe was livid, and said he should take less in the next deal.

He didn't win that one, caught the attention of players and agents for such an absurd idea, and Comrie signed for what he was worth in the second deal, but from that point forward, Lowe tried to claw that money back he thought he overpaid Comrie, as he did here with the Ducks.

Fastfoward to the above articles.

Then, of course, Comrie's name (and his family's) got dragged through the mud when he did finally get traded to Philly.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by sa226

My remembrance of Comrie is a little murky, but how was he ever worth essentially 2 first round draft picks?

Corey Perry's potential notwithstanding

33 goals, 60 points as a 20 year old center.

[Sylvanfan]

Lowe also later stated that Corey Perry was a fine player and he'd be happy to talk about getting him from Brian Burke after the Dustin Penner offer sheet which was tampering.

How Lowe can have his head up his arse yet keep putting his foot in his mouth is astounding.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Lowe also later stated that Corey Perry was a fine player and he'd be happy to talk about getting him from Brian Burke after the Dustin Penner offer sheet which was tampering.

How Lowe can have his head up his arse yet keep putting his foot in his mouth is astounding.

Hot Yoga?

[bob-loblaw]

Lowe is horrid in anything related to NHL management, but I wonder how much of it was the old ownership group pushing him to do it?

[Fan in Exile]

To be fair to Lowe, he's made so many brilliant moves since then...

[Northendzone]

^ this is how special things are built.......

[DoubleF]

One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
Edward Abbey

Stupidity talks, vanity acts.
Victor Hugo

[BigFlameDog]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

this is pretty old news

Well...to be fair, all news is old news to you.

[Blarg]

Lowe also traded away Ryan Smythe because they couldn't settle a $100k gap when trying to be re-signed

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Blarg

Lowe also traded away Ryan Smythe because they couldn't settle a $100k gap when trying to be re-signed

Right! I totally forgot about that!

They were doing like a $3M remodel of the dressing room and Lowe and Smyth were $100K apart so Lowe traded him.

The beginning of the ambiguous rebuild. They traded Pronger and Smyth in the same season.

[Locke]

Pronger also asked for a trade because apparently Lowe sold him a bill of goods during his contract negotiations. A whole ton of promises that as Pronger watched Lowe never deliver he got fed up and asked to leave.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Locke

Pronger also asked for a trade because apparently Lowe sold him a bill of goods during his contract negotiations. A whole ton of promises that as Pronger watched Lowe never deliver he got fed up and asked to leave.

I thought he left because his wife refused to live in Edmonton (which seems perfectly reasonable to me)... or am I confusing Pronger with someone else?

[krynski]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I thought he left because his wife refused to live in Edmonton (which seems perfectly reasonable to me)... or am I confusing Pronger with someone else?

That's my understanding. The reason I've heard is that he knocked up a girl, and Mrs. Pronger wasn't too happy.

[Flames89]

This just confirms how much of a blur the last 11 years have been. It feels like Perry was a prospect like 4-5 years ago.

[Geeoff]

What's crazy it's that Lowe is still around....

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by krynski

That's my understanding. The reason I've heard is that he knocked up a girl, and Mrs. Pronger wasn't too happy.

My understanding is that the part about knocking up a girl was an unsubstantiated rumour started by raging Oiler fans after Pronger's trade demand became known. The part about it being because his wife hated Edmonton likely true, but the other part of the rumour was likely just childish Edmonton fans trying to humiliate her.

[Poe969]

I'm curious to hear what Perry thinks about this. He seems like the kind of guy who would come right out and say that he'd leave Edmonton as soon as possible or make some kind of joke about the oilers organization.