Don't Blame Mrs. Nylander, Edmonton

Oiler blogger David Staples has some interesting info under the sub-heading "THE INSIDER STUFF: NYLANDER'S WIFE REALLY DIDN'T HATE THE THOUGHT OF EDMONTON," but rather than quote it here, you really should check it out over at Staples' blog, The Cult of Hockey. Trust me.

Misinformed And Misdirected Hostility

Since the story surfaced that Michael Nylander chose Washington over Edmonton (and more money), a handful of columnists have questioned Nylander's decision by taking cheap shots at our nation's capital. Yet another example from the Edmonton Sun's John Short in his column this morning:

The same Nylander who chose to live in Washington, probably the most violent city in North America, and insisted it was his right to take millions less for the privilege.

Nevermind the fact that Nylander may have chosen the Caps because they're an organization on the rise with a clear sense of direction or a team where the playmaking pivot would be able to set up one of the most exciting goal scorers the game has seen in a generation.

Nevermind the fact that Nylander, father of six, may have chosen D.C. because it is a city with which he is familiar, having played here before, or one that boasts both great history and cultural institutions. Or that travel between D.C. and Nylander's native Sweden is considerably easier from the East Coast.

Come to think of it, nevermind all the facts - including that D.C. isn't even the most violent U.S. city with an NHL team (sorry to drag you into this, St. Louis, Detroit and Atlanta). Short's claim - like those before his - is based on emotion and sour grapes, not actual numbers or reason.

And one data point that Short neglects to mention? Edmonton is the murder capital of Canada.

Given all of this, it's not difficult to see why Nylander may have passed up the privilege to play in the City of Champions. Save the cheap shots for someone more deserving - Nylander's agent, perhaps.

Update: Head over to OWO for more on the morons.

Is Kevin Lowe Trying To Get Fired?

I'm not trying to pile on here, but what the hell is Kevin Lowe doing in/to Edmonton? Let's put it this way - if Lowe worked in the current Bush Administration, he'd have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by now. Here are a few of the Oiler GM's recent head-scratchers:

• Traded "heart and soul" Ryan Smyth to the Islanders at the trade deadline, sending OilerNation into a deep depression, only to admit just a few months later that had he known the salary cap was going to rise as much as it did and had he known the troubles he'd have luring free agents to Edmonton, he'd have given in to Smyth's ~$5.25 million demands (Smyth got $6.25m/year in Colorado). Regarding the former, everyone knew the cap was going to get a decent bump - take this report from back in February, for example, noting that a $4m increase was expected. Regarding the latter, Lowe is apparently just realizing "what Calgarians have known for years: no one wants to move to Edmonton." The trade itself was certainly defensible at the time. But the rationale given now raises an eyebrow.
• Failed to draft Karl Alzner, who, by many accounts, was the guy the Oilers were targeting (they were clearly high on him), despite the fact that Los Angeles, with the 4th pick, was looking to trade down. The Caps, of course, drafted Alzner 5th, leaving the Oilers to draft Sam Gagner at 6th.
• Traded captain Jason Smith and winger Joffrey Lupul to Philly for Joni Pitkanen and deadweight Geoff Sanderson. I'll give Lowe a bit of a pass on this one, given Pitkanen's upside and Lupul's horrendous 2006-07, though it's never a good thing when a trade "has [your] players fuming off the record" (though it is, presumably, better than when they're fuming on the record).
• Lost out on signing unrestricted free agent Michael Nylander (in case you hadn't heard) who took significantly less money to play in D.C.
• Traded a (likely very high) second-round pick in the impressively-deep 2008 draft to the Islanders for Allan Rourke - a guy who "will provide [the organization] with experience in Springfield (Edmonton's AHL affiliate)" - and the Isles' third-round pick in 2008.

Now, I'm admittedly an outsider looking in on the situation and have cherry-picked some less-than-favorable examples to make my point. But that point still remains - Kevin Lowe has made some questionable moves of late, and Edmonton Oiler fans deserve better.

Update: I just saw an explanation for the Rourke trade that makes sense, and that is that the Oilers needed to acquire that 3rd round pick - which had originally been there and was sent to the Island as part of the Marc-Andre Bergeron trade - in order to have the right picks so they can make an offer to a Restricted Free Agent. Maybe Lowe knows what he's doing after all.

Update: The Oilers have signed Sabres RFA Thomas Vanek to a 7-year/$50-million offer sheet. If the Sabres don't match, not only will the Oil be on the hook for $7+ million per year for the next seven years, but will have to compensate the Sabres with four first round picks as well.

Update: The Sabres match. Who's next up for Lowe? Zach Parise? Dustin Penner? What's Plan C?

Update: As of 1:30, here's the first graf of Lowe's Wikipedia entry:

Funny. (h/t to ExParrot)

More Nylander Details

Kevin Lowe's side of the story (at least a good chunk of it) appears in today's Edmonton Journal. You can't help but feel a bit for Lowe, and you can tell that Michael Nylander does too - I'm sure deals get announced all the time and go off without a hitch based on the "agreement to agree" that Lowe and Gillis reached. But it's pretty clear that that's all that was present here. Money quote?

"I know in today's game you also need a player's signature, and I said, 'well let's get the sheet signed (by Nylander),'" said Lowe.

According to Lowe, [Nylander's agent Mike] Gillis said his client was exhausted and asked if he could sign in the morning. Lowe agreed but says he never got a signed sheet back from the player. Instead, Nylander signed in Washington Monday afternoon.

Can this please end now?

UPDATE: There's a bit more here, including this:

Lowe said he called Caps GM George McPhee.

"He told me he got a call from the player and cited the Mike Vernon judgment that a player is not signed until he's signed."

The League Gets Involved

From The Hockey News via Kukla's:

"NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Hockey News.com the league is awaiting further details before deciding whether to step in.

"'Clubs and players both should have a right to rely on the sanctity of contractual commitments, regardless of how those commitments are memorialized,' Daly said in an emailed statement. 'To our knowledge, there has been only one Standard Player's Contract executed and filed with the League, and under our CBA, that contract should be enforceable.

"'But if, after reviewing all of the relevant facts here, there has been a breach of a contractual commitment, we will certainly assist the Oilers in any way we can in seeking an appropriate remedy. We are not in a position to opine what those remedies might be at this point.'"

Wha'choo Talkin' 'Bout, Gillis?

Back in June, the New York Post reported that Michael Nylander had fired his agent, Paul Theofanous, after having learned that Theofanous had agreed to a contract extension for his client with the Rangers... without having talked to said client. Now, by all indications, it seems a similar situation may have occurred with Nylander's new agent, Mike Gillis, and the Edmonton Oilers. Should we be surprised? Well, yeah. But maybe not by Gillis's actions.

By most accounts, Gillis (pictured here from back in his playing days) is the kind of agent that, um, gets top dollar for his clients - this is the guy, after all, who got Bobby Holik $9 million per year from the Rangers:

Despite a six-year career in the NHL, Gillis is no sentimentalist. His role as an agent is not the culmination of a boyhood fantasy or some thwarted dream of athletic glory. He's not in the profession to hobnob with his old pals from his playing days. He often counsels his clients on how to maximize their talents -- and paycheques -- at the NHL level.... He has traded barbs and epithets with the toughest GMs -- some of them former teammates or opponents. He states his goal succinctly: "Maximizing compensation is the first and foremost part of my job."

Sounds like a real sweetheart, doesn't he?

So when the Oilers offered more money than the Caps did to acquire Nylander's services, Gillis must have assumed that the deal was done, and allegedly he gave the Oilers indications to that end. But, in the player's mind, the deal clearly was not done, as there were factors other than money in play - imagine that.

Which brings us to where we are today - with one pissed off team, one shady agent (redundant, I know), and one player who is caught in the middle. Suddenly, Alex Ovechkin's decision to can his agent and hire his mother to do his negotiating doesn't seem like such a bad idea, does it?

Spanning The Blogosphere: The Latest On Nylander

Colby Cosh and Tyler Dellow - a couple of Edmonton chaps - have written a pair of must-reads on the Michael Nylander situation. Cosh recaps the entire saga (so far) here, and Dellow whips out the CBA here. Mirtle is on the story as well.

I tend to agree that a) there's no way the Caps are losing Nyls and b) the Oilers are better off without him - assuming he would have gotten a similar deal in Edmonton, Nylander in Washington makes much more sense for all parties involved, as Alex Ovechkin needs a top-notch set-up man. Raffi Torres? Less so.

Nylander To Caps Not A Done Deal?

The Oil not going down without a fight, reports the Ottawa Sun.

And away we go.

Update (10:57 pm): Just received a call back from the Oilers VP of Communications, Allan Watt. When asked to comment on the team's complaint filed to the NHL, Watt responded, "I don't have anything to say to bloggers." I quickly reminded him that we had spoken at length Monday morning. Said Watt,

Well that was a mistake on my part.

I'm guessing things are now a wee bit tense in Edmonton's front office.

Nylander To The Caps

Per Tarik

Confirmation from the team

As you know, I've been pimping the idea of Nylander's return for a couple of months now, so I'm elated by this news. Sure, the money is more than I had thought and the term is longer, but the fact remains that the Caps now have a legitimate first-line center, a veteran presence and a mentor all in one. Not bad.

And here's a thought - Alex Ovechkin scored 98 goals in his first two seasons with a converted winger as his pivot. Imagine what he'll do now.

Update: TSN.ca has the deal as 4-years/$19.5-million.

And If Schadenfreude Is Your Thing...

Jaromir Jagr had this to say of Michael Nylander's departure: “I am little disappointed the Rangers were not able to keep Nylander on the team. It was really good for me to play with him. We played together for 2 years with the Rangers and 1 year in Washington. We worked well together and knew what to expect from one another.”

"Nylander To Edmonton" Not A Done Deal

I just spoke with Allan Watt, the Oilers VP of Communications, and he confirmed that the Michael Nylander deal has not been signed.

The deal is done when [GM] Kevin Lowe tells me it's done.

When asked what the impediments to an agreement were, Watt said, "It could be any number of things," including that Nylander was still listening to offers from other clubs.

Watt was unable to explain Bob Stauffer's (Team 1260) report that an agreement had been reached.

Update (3:02): A second radio station in Edmonton, 630 CHED, is now reporting that Nylander has agreed to 4 years with the Oilers. Salary was not disclosed. Streaming audio of their news/sports reports on the half hour available here. Hear it and weep.

Update (4:42): Nylander is a Cap. What a ride.

Report: Oilers Sign Nylander

Having lost out on the Scott Gomez sweeps, it is being reported that the Edmonton Oilers have signed Michael Nylander.

Obviously this is unwelcomed news for Caps fans, and may force the team to resort to Plan B (or C or D...) - Alexei Yashin. Stay tuned.

UPDATE (8:51 AM): Nothing concrete (and not to go all rumor-mongering on you), but I'm hearing that these reports are a bit premature.

The Answer

Fact: The Caps are in desperate need of a first-line, play-making center.

Fact: The Caps have a handful of core players who will be due new contracts after the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, so it's unlikely they can break the bank (in terms of dollars or years) on any one player this coming offseason.

Fact: The Caps have a young stud Swede who hopefully will be playing in the NHL next season, but undoubtedly will have some difficulty transitioning to North America, both on and off the ice.

Fact: The Rangers are having trouble re-signing Michael Nylander, who just so happens to be a legitimate first-line center who is Swedish and won't cost Scott Gomez/Chris Drury money.

Answer: Sign Nylander for two years at $4-4.5 million per year, and he centers Alex Ovechkin, mentors Nicklas Backstrom and is off the books by the time Backstrom's ready to be the number one center and the team has to make big-time salary commitments elsewhere.

Any questions?