Lowe & Burke: Getting What You Deserve
A New and Second Silly Season

Personal biases should be known upfront. I think Kevin Lowe is a douchebag. I also think (by virtue of self-inflicted as well as can't-be-helped circumstances) that Lowe is mostly an incompetent douchebag.

I think Brian Burke is a complete and utter egomaniac, a personality type I personally find easy to despise. I also think that Brian Burke, at least this juncture (by virtue of circumstances he fell into and also helped to create) is mostly a competent egomaniac.

Analyzing my personal reaction both to Lowe and Burke (one of ugh probably because both are a little too old-school Canadian for this fan who grew up believing that skill and grit could be found in players who don't claim English-Canadian heritage), of course, leads me to the Dustin Penner offer sheet this week. Interestingly enough:

1.) I agree with Burke that the salary is out-of-whack for a player with Penner's statistics, and beyond mere statistics, on and off-ice contribution.

2.) I agree with Burke that Kevin Lowe is trying desperately to keep his job. However, I am not sure that Burke should have voiced that opinion to the media. Frankly speaking, in the world of hockey, particularly the playoffs, there is such a thing called "bulletin board material." Most players are warned not to say anything that would unnecessarily fire up their opposition, such as "I wanted to play them, anyway." While it's true that Lowe is trying to keep his job, Burke voicing that claim just makes him look like a childish imbecile rather than the general manager of the defending Stanley Cup champions. Really, Mr. Burke, dispute Kevin's gutlessness in not warning you about what was forthcoming all you want, but is it really necessary to stoop to such a level yourself? Well, if you're Brian Burke, it is.

Now that my ranting about Burke is done (aside: my loathing for Burke goes back many years, back to the day when he was in charge of NHL discipline and my skilled Penguins were clutched, grabbed, hooked, and held, and the league, including Mr. Burke, did very little to enforce the rulebook that would have allowed players like Lemieux and Jagr to pile up points as they should and could have), onto still more complaints about Lowe. Put bluntly: I do not understand how handing outlandish offer sheets to complimentary players helps catapult a non-playoff team to a playoff team or a playoff team to a contender.

If Lowe wants to overpay someone, he should wait until a franchise player, or at the very least, a tier I star if not a franchise player, becomes available. If you are going to overpay a player, overpay a player who is going to make an instantaneous difference on your roster. While as a Pens fan I am loath to say this, Lowe would be better off waiting for a superstar potential franchise player (I won't name names, but you know who on the Pens roster could fit that bill) to overpay. Good grief, my Penguins aside, save the money this year and overpay Dany Heatley next summer. He'll easily pot 50 goals alongside Hemsky, and those 50 goals will make a tangible difference when it comes to Lowe's team's won-loss record.

Unfortunately for Lowe, he doesn't have a year and he appears to know that. He knows his team needs to make the playoffs this year. Unfortunately for Lowe, one complimentary player, even one good complimentary player, doesn't take his team over the hump--in Edmonton's case this year, to the playoffs. Which, for Brian Burke, must make the temptation to let Edmonton have Penner a somewhat tantalizing one. What if the Oilers, as appears likely, earn a high first round pick that Anaheim isn't likely to earn? What if Anaheim can then draft a high-end player who will, in a couple of seasons, be able to replace what Penner gave the Ducks this past season?

Lest anyone think I deny the importance of complimentary players, I surely do not. Role players have crucial roles to play on a team that intends to contend for, let alone win, the Cup. But it's just sheer silliness to overpay for a complimentary player when your team is nowhere near contending anyway (reality check: losing Chris Pronger, Jason Smith, and Ryan Smyth means your team is a far cry from the one that went on a run to Game 7 of the 2006 Cup Finals). Bide your time, hoard your money and cap space, and wait to spend 9 or 10 million a season on a player who will actually make a tangible difference for your team.

I still don't like Brian Burke or Kevin Lowe. While Burke's quotes often entertain me, I still don't think he had to say what everyone already knows aloud. (Good grief, if players know not to do that, why doesn't the man with a Harvard law degree?) But for Kevin Lowe, a new prize has been awarded. With Kevin Lowe, unrestricted free agency is no longer alone in being the silliest of seasons. Now, thanks to Lowe, restricted free agency, at least when the current general manager of the Edmonton Oilers is determined to offer outlandish salaries to complimentary players, is, also, a very, very silly season.


Notes:

1.) None of my complaints about the contract Lowe offered to Penner should be seen as an idictment of Penner as a player. I watched a decent percentage of Anaheim's playoff games, and of the Ducks' youngsters, Ryan Getzlaf clearly stood out as a potential franchise player. That is not a slam to Penner as much as it is praise of Getzlaf. But in a salary cap era, it is sheer silly stupidity to overpay a complimentary player when you may find yourself needing to find the cap space to pay a franchise player the going rate for franchise players.

2.) When a team is a player or two away from legitimately contending for the Cup, (think: will probably go to conference finals no matter what and will win Cup if everything falls in place) at that time and that time only, I think it is fine to overpay a role player--either financially or in a trade. However, I think those assets, often, are perhaps best acquired during the season, provided you're not giving up something too outlandish in a trade. But a bit of overpayment to seal the deal on capturing the Cup--at that point, and that point only, can overpayment sometimes be a worthy practice for a franchise. (Note and snark warning: Of course, I am not referring to a worthy practice for a general manager fighting to keep his job.)

3.) Both Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal will be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2009. Sidney Crosby was scheduled to become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2008, but he signed an extension this summer. With Ray Shero at the helm, it is not a foregone conclusion that Malkin and Staal will even be allowed to reach the point where they become restricted free agents (extensions can be signed prior to that occurrence). Also, unlike hockey fans, color me as one who's as yet unconvinced that Staal and Malkin will have a purely upward trajectory. Young players, even great young players, at least ones not named Crosby, Jagr, and Lemieux (spoiled, spoiled, Penguins fan am I), do not always have a purely upward trajectory. Who is to say that other teams are willing to spend outrageous sums on players with potential (snark: especially if Kevin Lowe is no longer the GM of the Edmonton Oilers?) And if Pittsburgh fans (and all hockey fans, too) are lucky enough that Malkin and Staal follow in the footsteps of Crosby, Jagr, and Lemieux, and have purely upward trajectories, well, to put it mildly, there are worse problems to have. (Snark: Such as trying to figure out how to acquire talent rather than having oodles and oodles of talent.) Anyhow, this is one Pittsburgh hockey fan who would just prefer to watch and see how Malkin and Staal do this season and also see the Pittsburgh organization sign both players to extensions prior to them actually becoming restricted free agents.