Hello hockey fans in Canada, the United States and Newfoundland.
Your question tonight, did Kevin Lowe make the right decision when he traded Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders?
We await the wisdom of the masses…
BRAINFART!!
Was it the wrong move to trade him? No.
Was the time right? No.
Did he get enough in return? No.
I believe Smyth is a free agent at the end of the season, or whenever the free agency period begins. There was a chance that the oilers may not have been able to affor to keep Smyth and lost him for nothing. It was kind of a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction trade. I don’t like the timing at all. If Edmonton was completely out of the playoff picture, then maybe. Maybe being 10 points out of a playoff spot was enough for Lowe to think that?
I think right now Lowe looks very bad, he did not get enough in return for the “Face” of the Oil, that is unless he can get him back in free agency then he will look like a hockey genius. But right now Garth Snow is the man. Did I just say that?
The guy was offered 27 Million over 5 years, he wanted more. It all came down to money whether you want to believe it or not. Lowe has a salary cap to follow and he made a very reasonable (I think it was generous) offer to Smyth.
Sure, Lowe made a mistake by overpaying some of his other forwards, but Smyth could have easily taken a few hundred thousand off per year to stay in the city he loves. Smyth is also a UFA at the end of the year which means he can sign with Edmonton if he wishes, but he won’t (going by the looks of the press conference yesterday). He would rather play somewhere else for more money.
As someone else pointed out, this can be looked at as a Hometown Discount or Hometown Robbery. Smyth could have taken a small cut in pay to stay in Edmonton, or he could have used his franchise player status to push Lowe into paying him more. It’s pretty obvious which direction Smyth went.
I’m with Nate.
If you are loyal, take the money and stay. Kevin Lowe has always come across as a decent person. I’m sure it was a tough decision but he had to do it. I’m not sure he is a brain but he surely isn’t a bonehead because of that decision.