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With Michael Ryder signing for just under $3 million, The $4 mill Kevin Lowe offered RFA Dustin Penner now looks even more ridiculous. Burke must have had a big fat mile when he saw that.

Both players hit around 30 goals, with Ryder out performing in the assists department. Also, Penner is entering his second NHL year, and while he displays great potential, he hasn't proven he can be a consistent performer just yet. It is plain and simple over payment, and this is the first hard evidence against it. Kevin Lowe may be trying a bit too hard to win at any cost and is quickly becoming the next Bobby Clarke.
Filed Under:   lowe   rfa   penner   ryder  
July 29, 2007 6:53 PM ET | Delete
Its extremely obvious that Kevin Lowes desperation is what is driving his logic. Anyone who has any clue at all about hockey knows all he is doing is trying to drive the inflationary enginel. His business ethics are questionable, and his business acumen is non existent. This man has managed to drive away all their big ticket players, and now is trying to screw everyone else because he is so incompetent. Desperate men do desperate things. I sense another lockout on the horizon. :) I can't wait. Hopefully in two years we lose another year or two of hockey.
July 29, 2007 6:56 PM ET | Delete
That's easy to explain. Penner is a much better all-around player than Ryder. Ryder is a one-dimensional offenive player who exceled with tons of minutes on the league's number 2 powerplay, whereas Penner is a tough physical player who had to earn minutes 5 on 5 behind players like Mcdonald, Selanne, Getzlaf, Perry.
July 29, 2007 7:06 PM ET | Delete
Ryder's deal is one year, Penner's is 5. Think Ryder will be making less than 4 million in 5 years?
July 29, 2007 7:57 PM ET | Delete
Acekicker - Ryder had more points on an offensively inept team, while Penner had 45 total points on an offensively gifted team and played on the PP with selanne, pronger, niedemayer, etc.
July 29, 2007 8:01 PM ET | Delete
This guy can't even compare to Clarkie, atleast the guys he is overpaying aren't 10 years past their prime. Anyhow, the CBA was one big joke and this sport will cease to exist in a few years if Buttman doesn't get the boot.
July 29, 2007 9:29 PM ET | Delete
The CBA and salary cap is not in place to keep costs down-it's to guarantee that owners get a certain level of revenues and that so called "small markets" have payroll parity with the big markets. Guess what, the CBA works exactlye as planned-revenues are up, teams are making more money and teams that previously could not spend for FA's can be invloved.
July 29, 2007 9:39 PM ET | Delete
The CBA and salary cap is not in place to keep costs down-it's to guarantee that owners get a certain level of revenues and that so called "small markets" have payroll parity with the big markets. Guess what, the CBA works exactlye as planned-revenues are up, teams are making more money and teams that previously could not spend for FA's can be invloved. Yes the CBA guarantees a certain level of revenues. That I agree with one hundred percent. But what inflation does is make it harder on the weak sisters. This means that they will be paying more for lesser players. which will actually make it even harder for teams that don't bring in the big money. The Canadian dollar was the single most significant reason the cap went up this year. That did not help 24 of the teams. Of those 24 teams about ten of them are the so called small market teams that needed help. They are also the reason we had a work stoppage in the first place. So in actual fact those teams are actually in a weaker position to the rest of the teams than they were before. And that is why we can hope for another work stoppage. Or if they would get their heads out of their asses they would contract some teams.
July 29, 2007 9:41 PM ET | Delete
Damn thing won't let me go back and quote Jsaqella. So here are your quotations " and "
July 29, 2007 9:53 PM ET | Delete
Hey Jsaqella...You should just write up an article about the CBA on Microsoft Word and cut and paste it to everyone of these blogs that talk about K-Lowe inflating salaries and the doom that he will bring on the NHL...Wow! According to DonMega hockey will not exist in 10 years because of the CBA?! That is really likely...
July 29, 2007 10:03 PM ET | Delete
BTD5504 - A few facts to chew on:Ryder's time on ice was 16:16 vs. Penner's 13:49 and Ryder surpassed 18 minutes of ice time 16 times to Penner's 317 of his goals were on the power play to Penner's 9Ryder's power play time was: 318.28 (2nd amoung Habs forwards), Penner's was: 239.28 (5th for Ducks forwards) so Ryder was on the power play 1/3 of the time more than Penner and on the first unit where Penner was on the second.AND the "offensively gifted team" Penner played for, scored a whopping 15 more goals last season than the "offensively inept team" that Ryder played for.
July 29, 2007 10:05 PM ET | Delete
Cheif Wiggam, that's why there is also revenue sharing as well as a salary cap. I'm not blind enough to say it's great for fans, because ultimately ticket prices will go up. But the NHL doesn't give a Rat's posterior for it's fans anyhow, so long as we keep buying tickets, jerseys, merchandise and other crap. If you want to argue that facet, I'll agree with you.
July 29, 2007 10:49 PM ET | Delete
Listen I really do not need a legal crash course on the CBA: revenues, profit, fair market, blah, blah, blah; I get it. I am pointing out the stupidity that allows vultures GMs to offer unrealistic contracts to players that are hardly proven. So tell me from the Kevin Lowe camp, how is this justified?Edmguy25, face the facts here, the NHL playoffs got cut short for a pre horse race show, or the fact that it has been pushed to the bike race network, or the fact that the Stanley Cup finals pulled less or a market share than Food Network at any given time. I am a huge hockey fan myself. I live it, eat it, breath it, etc, but what exactly did the new CBA/lockout get us? Was it worth it? Is the game better? The answer to these questions is above- No. Furthermore, if GMs continue to drive prices up will anyone care about this sport in 5 years?Then again, everybody is entitled to his or her opinion even if it is convoluted and myopic.
July 29, 2007 11:39 PM ET | Delete
Well, the game got higher revenues, which has resulted in a the salary cap rising from $39mm to $50.3mm in two years. The national US TV deal notwithstanding, the NHL is a regional league, and has always made the bulk of it's money from regional sources and gates. One could argue that the Flyers are far more vile for scalping Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen from the Predators for a 1st rounder and vastly overpaying Hartnell. Seriously, Lowe took advantage of a team that lost out trying to low ball it's two stars and the Champs who got themselves in a cap mess. The Flyers took advantage of a team in ownership limbo.
July 30, 2007 4:22 AM ET | Delete
Any player who played for the Mississippi Sea Wolves (echl) and has made it in the NHL deserves every dollar they are worth.
July 30, 2007 4:53 AM ET | Delete
Um obvioulsy Lowe had to overpay a bit to Penner, if he didn't the Ducks would just match. Is it that hard to figure out? Also, comparing 1 year deals to long term deals is ridiculous. Guys always get more for signing long term. Short term means you will end up paying more if he has a big year this year.
July 30, 2007 2:43 PM ET | Delete
Oilers suck even if they get penner, its all about the avalanche
July 30, 2007 7:27 PM ET | Delete
Overpaying is akin to throwing in an extra draft pick or player in a trade. Maybe you overpaid maybe you didn't at the end of the day your concerned about the asset your getting and what it cost you.Read this blog for more insight as to why this will continue to happen. Daniel Tolensky http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=8757Ryder also has 3 years in the league and consistently put up the same numbers. This is Penners first year with a gamble that he will only get better. Do you want a softie who is a consistent 55 point guy or a 6'4 power forward that fills the empty LW spot on your team. Try to be objective for a change and play GM with a goal of a making your team better.
July 30, 2007 8:26 PM ET | Delete
"what exactly did the new CBA/lockout get us? Was it worth it? Is the game better?"The CBA allowed the NHL as a whole TO MAKE MONEY! I'd say that is pretty 'worth it'. The game is also better with the rule changes, so the lockout resulted in financial stability for the league as a whole, and a better product on the ice.
July 30, 2007 10:37 PM ET | Delete
Hey Sheck do like watching games on the bike race network? The lockout crated rules that may have increased revenue but it dampened the interest in the sport. Salary caps allow teams to pull these kinds of things which in the long run only dilute the talent pull.Look, I could care less what Lowe did or how he's been doing it or CBA. Point is all this legal nonsense is destroying the game.
July 31, 2007 8:23 AM ET | Delete
Considering that ESPN is trying to get the NHL back right now, donmega, your point is not carrying much weight. I also fail to see how Edmonton signing Penner dilutes the talent pool. The NHL owners needlessly lockout out the players resulted in the "dampened" interest in the sport. They could have had revenue sharing without a lockout.
July 31, 2007 7:30 PM ET | Delete
Dampened Interest? Maybe so - but you have to crack some eggs to make an omlette. If the lockout had not occured, it wouldnt just be teams like EDM suffering. The Nashville's and Carolina's of the league would have been toast completely without the new CBA's revenue sharing. ESPN also looks like it is coming back into the hockey fold, which will bode well for hockey in the USA. The talent pool isnt necessarily being diluted. There are more kids playing hockey in the USA than ever before. Look at some of the great prospects coming out of the US these days - Schremp, Petry, Chorney are 3 great US prospects on the Oil alone - bottom line is that the game is continuing to grow, which is resulting in a higher talent pool to choose from. The signing of Penner doesn't dilute the NHL's talent pool in any way at all - the only thing the Penner signing does is force GM's to be more careful how they disperse their salary. Remember, salaries are determined by league wide revenue, not by Kevin Lowe. Lowe is simply balancing out the free agent market.
August 2, 2007 7:51 AM ET | Delete
sheck: This agree on with you. yes it helped in some areas but the loss of a year is really hurting the league. When I posted last I did not see the possible deal with ESPN2; which would be HUGE if they get it. As far as Lowe, well, my GM(s) haven't been exactly fair to the small market teams either, but that's a topic for another debate. I am not saying he is evil and must be stopped, I just am not a fan of the offer sheets they have been handing out.
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