This is going to be short and sweet, because the point is straightforward. The main reason that Ryan Smyth is not an Oiler today is greed. He was offered an extremely generous contract by Kevin Lowe and the Oilers in the 11th hour of negotiations, and he turned it down. It was such a nice contract that I believe Don Meehan let it slip out to a couple of different sources that the deal was going to get done. That, as far as my best guess goes, is where the original reports of Smyth being signed came from. Smyth, apparently, thinks of himself as a $29.25-30 million dollar man over 5 years. He might get it too, but the bottom line is that at that price it was not a smart hockey decision for Kevin Lowe to make. Kevin went as high as he could...higher than he probably should have...to try to keep Smyth, but it didn't work out. Ultimately, it was a smarter hockey decision to take the futures package, save the money and spend it more wisely elsewhere come July.
I'm sad to see Ryan go, and not exceptionally optimistic about the chances of him coming back in the off-season. But, from where I sit, Kevin Lowe did the right thing by not grossly overpaying him. The club isn't better right now, but the club will be better off in 3 years the way things are set up now as opposed to having the burden of a $6 million 35 year old. That's not to say it takes 3 years to recover from this...Kevin will spend the money in free agency to get the team right back in the hunt for next year. He'll also use the draft picks maybe in a trade or maybe as a package to move up...remember, he's got 3 first rounders in the upcoming draft.
The bottom line for me is that I think it is unfair to throw Lowe under the bus. I don't want to throw Ryan under the bus either, but I think it's more on Ryan's shoulders as far as why he isn't an Oiler any more. If your honest decision would have been to pay Ryan whatever, even if it meant overpaying, to keep him as an Oiler...then be made at Kevin Lowe. If you're a fan of smart hockey moves, this is one in my estimation. As much as it might hurt now.
He has a media availability at 12pm Wednesday...more details after that.
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