I'd like to send a personal thank you to Kevin Lowe, GM of the Edmonton Oilers, for tendering a 7-year, $50 million offer sheet to Buffalo Sabres winger Thomas Vanek.
Was it a smart move? Probably not. Was it a desperate move, one born of the need to deflect the attention of the Edmonton hockey press away from a consistent record of failure when it comes to running the franchise? Undoubtedly.
But then again, what Lowe has managed to do is to inject just a little more entertainment into the Summer, helping to extend the excitement of the free agent silly season for at least one more day. Just when we started to plow through the second and third-tier free agents, here comes Kevin Lowe, driving our interest back to one of the best young talents in the game, and getting a whole lot of folks annoyed while doing it.
I know that the vast majority of GMs swear off the RFA route because of the ill will that it might engender with their counterparts. I really wish it was the other way around. As far as I'm considered, all the swearing and gnashing of teeth over a decision like this one makes it all worthwhile.
In the meantime, doesn't Buffalo GM Darcy Reiger have some explaining to do? The way I see it, wouldn't it have been possible to commit the money to re-sign either Briere or Drury with some of the money that Vanek is going to get, and still wind up with four first round draft picks when somebody came after Vanek? Something tells me some fans in Buffalo are probably asking that question about now -- and they ought to be.
