Oilers offer to Penner

[Raccer]

The Edmonton Oilers send offer sheet to Dustin Penner
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID...8&hubname=

[repenttokyo]

So what does Burke do? Solve his cap problems in exchange for draft picks, and in doing so lose an important part of his core group? The Bertuzzi deal looks worse and worse now.

[87Flyer]

i think they match the offer and get the phones ringing. time for burke to work some magic, he\'s got till the start of the season(or whenever the cut off is) to go over the cap. that shud give him enuff time to get under the cap. maybe put together a deal with bryzgalov in it to entice another team to take some money back the other way. he could always \"convince\" niedermeyer that it is time to call it a career. they can\'t really let part of their future go for some picks, that would be brutal to their chancs of repeating.

[repenttokyo]

pretty sure if Nieds retires they are still on the hook for his salary, cap wise.

[GoJetsGo]

It would be interesting to see if they match, how many other GMs might be willing to help them get under the cap just to show Lowe that is not how you do business.

I think because he is under 35, Niedermayer\'s salary wouldn\'t count against the cap. If he plays and they match, they will need to move someone (Bertuzzi or Schneider)?

[doulos]

This is the new NHL and it is exactly how you do buisness. I see no problem with it.

[honduranhockey]

doulos wrote:

This is the new NHL and it is exactly how you do buisness. I see no problem with it.

I agree - it\'s a tool that all GMs have access to, it\'s not like Lowe is doing something outside the boundaries.

It doesn\'t make much sense to do it for Penner, though...

[fzusher]

87Flyer: maybe put together a deal with bryzgalov in it to entice another team to take some money back the other way.


Bryzgalov can\'t be moved to save cap room unless a cheaper goalie mover the other way - Jonas Hiller\'s cap hit is 2.1M more than Bryzgalov\'s.

repenttokyo: pretty sure if Nieds retires they are still on the hook for his salary, cap wise.


Only if they pay him his last year (Primeau situation). Otherwise, a retirement wipes out that contract\'s cap hit unless the contract was a multi-year one AND the player was 35 or older when he signed it (Garth Snow situation), which is not the case here.


To Dobber: according to the TSN.ca compensation breakdown, a 4.3M contract requires a compensation of a first, 2nd and 3rd rounders, which have to be the team\'s own and in 2008. In this sense, i totally agree that Burke should take the picks and run, not so much for what he can draft with them but for what he can trade them for. If Niedermayer retires he all of a sudden has 7.75M in room (5.75M if Bryzgalov is moved), and a combo (Bryzgalov + 1st rounder in a deep draft; or the 1st and 3rd of the Oilers picks) that can net him a much better LW than Penner. Also, if he gives this kind of money to Penner, he\'ll have to give something comparable, or at least close, to next summer\'s free agents Kunitz (UFA), Getzlaf (RFA) and Penner (RFA), as they each stand a good chance of posting comparable numbers to Penner\'s (the latter two are his linemates).

Here\'s a list of LWs who are on the last year of their contracts and are either on teams that are borderline to make the playoffs, or under a question mark in their current team, or have had past problems with their current coach:

Huselius, Stillman, Rolston, Demitra, Malone, Rucinsky, Marleau, Prospal, and Naslund. And hell, who knows what Columbus would cough up for a real goalie and top picks. [granted, it is very doubtful that San Jose would deal Marleau to Anaheim ...)

[Cartman]

repenttokyo wrote:

pretty sure if Nieds retires they are still on the hook for his salary, cap wise.

That rule is only for players over 35 (I think) so if he retires now, they are off the hook, whereas if he retires next year, they will be on the hook for the last year.

[Raccer]

One thing or sure, we\'ll all know what is the situation with Neid and Selane very soon.

[87Flyer]

fzusher

it wouldnt be a far leap to think that Burke could offer Bryzgalov and say Bertuzzi/Scneider, clear the space then go place an offer for joseph at 750k to stay in the league and take a crack at the cup.

I can see the standpoint of the salary problem with the other players coming up for FA next year it would definitely make things more difficult.

One thing to consider tho is that some of the best lines that have played the game were just that, complete lines. for some reason they gel, they know where each other is and what they are capable of doing. maybe its trust, maybe belief in the others i don\'t know. what i do know is that when these lines get together they are a destructive force that can decimate an opposing team. these lines don\'t come along that often, if they did everyone would have one, when they do come along i think it\'s important for a GM to try to hold onto them.

If you think back to the days when the Legion was ripping it up. I can remeber them having combined totals of 15 points in a single game. A SINGLE GAME. when i seen that line playing last year throughout the playoffs i almost thot i was watching a rerun of Lindros and the boys. I honestly think that line has the potential to do the same.

What happens when you tinker and change the players on that line. Disaster, the Legion was never the same after Renberg went down with the groin injury. them losing Penner could be the same effect, not sure if anyone would be able to replace that cohesion that those 3 have. just my opinion.

[repenttokyo]

Keep Penner and ditch Bertuzzi if that is at all possible.

[Highlander]

I know that Dobber was critical of this deal but essentially it breaks down to R.Smyth (31yrs) a 1st, 2nd and 3rd in \'08 for D.Penner (24yrs), A.Plante, R.Nilsson, R.O\'Mara and about a $1.5 million x 5 yrs. Smyth exceeded Penner\'s 29 goals last year, he got 36, but in his 12 seasons he has only exceeded 29 goals on four occasions.

I still expect Burke to match but I don\'t agree that its a crazy call for Lowe to have made.

[QStar]

Highlander wrote:

I know that Dobber was critical of this deal but essentially it breaks down to R.Smyth (31yrs) a 1st, 2nd and 3rd in \'08 for D.Penner (24yrs), A.Plante, R.Nilsson, R.O\'Mara and about a $1.5 million x 5 yrs. Smyth exceeded Penner\'s 29 goals last year, he got 36, but in his 12 seasons he has only exceeded 29 goals on four occasions.

I still expect Burke to match but I don\'t agree that its a crazy call for Lowe to have made.

That\'s actually a pretty different way to look at it...almost makes sense too...but I think the \'intangibles\' that Smyth would have brought to the team tip the scales back in the eyes of the fans at least.

[Highlander]

Glad that you think that it almost makes sense but you are right, Penner (an undrafted free agent out of college) is NOT R.Smyth (a 6th overall selection). One of the other threads here suggested that he was the M.Renberg (of the Legion of Doom) of the Getzlaf-Perry-Penner line and that may be the case. Big man, late bloomer. He\'s the sort of player (see C.Bertuzzi) that Burkie loves, AND his a left-winger which seems to be much harder to find than right-wingers.

I would have preferred a similar offer to Z.Parise in Jersey but we will have to see how this one sets up. Say Burke matches, which I still think he does - \"No one poaches our players!\" How does this tie his hands not only this year, should Niedermayer come back (and he won\'t) but next year when Perry and Getzlaf are the ones in need of a new contract?