Did the Oilers throw in the towel for the year

[tpawlick]

Wow Smyth to the Ilse for a bag a pucks and some water bottles... Are they going to try and resign in the off season...
Wait and see I guess.. But I don't think so..

[mikeo2]

Ryan Smyth will not re-sign in Edmonton. They should have at least kept him till he either signed there or signed somewhere else at the end of the season. At least they got a first round pick, maybe it will turn into another Jason Bonsignore :rollin . The oilers had better make a big signing this summer to kind of make up for losing Smyth

[jrs]

Come on oilers fans, look at the bright side, at least your guys will have lots of time off this spring and summer and all the best tee times (probably all booked up already) :lol :lol :lol :lol
GO CANUCKS GO

[Tucumseh]

I would think Smyth has a bit of a resentment toward the Oiler management now...I doubt if you will see him back with the soilers but he won't stay in NY.

I'm also guessing this will be R:rollin lie's last season with em too. ;)

[Morbius131]

WOW, I really think K-lo through in the towel yesterday. But I think our boys have a little more pride than that, so we could see some good things in these remaining games. I also think it was funny at the Messier ceremony last night, that the speech Mac T gave, was supposed to be said by k-lo. Guess K-lowe isn't a complete idiot after all. On the bright side we are going to sign Briere and Redden in the off season :hat . Then next off season we will hook up Iginla in an Oiler uniform too :rollin . Calgary you get the Unrestricted Free Agent problems next year. Hopefully your GM is a lot brighter than ours!

Morb

[Okotokian]

I used to like him, but he has to go now. What a fiasco.

I don't even really fault him for not getting Smyth signed, or what he got in return. But think about this... If he HAD gotten Smyth to sign at the last minute, where would the Oilers have been? Not one tiny bit better than they were the day before, mediocre and out of the playoffs, when the serious teams all around them are getting better. Lowe has taken an entire season off from improving this team long term. Were the Oilers better at the end of the last trade deadline than at the end of this one? Of course they were. Gone are Spacek, Pronger, Peca, Samsonov... what do we get? Sykora (ok, good pick up), Lupul (24 points and the worst plus-minus player on the team by a lot. -17, so an actual contribution of 7 big points), and that 5 point wonder Nedved. They never got the quality defenceman they needed. There was some talk of their interest in Brad Stuart, then Calgary just walks in and takes him. And leaving the Smyth deal so late distracted the entire organization from getting anything else done.

If you were running a company and it had declined from the year previous, and you had done very little to turn it around, wouldn't you get fired?

[Tree Guy]

I think what bothers me the most is the fact that Hemsky, Horcoff, Rolston, Pisani alle got big fat long-term contracts in the off-season, while they left Smyth hanging.

lowe was protecting the core of the team based on past dealings with meehan. meehan encouraged Smyth to hang in there when they were reportedly 2-3 hundred thousand apart. Trade deadline was on Mess's day, they sent Bergeron's contract out, there was no way they would pull the trigger. Wrong!

So if lowe was anticipating making a trade, even in the off-season, that was the best he could come up with in the past 6 months?!! Unless this is a conspiracy of getting 3 first rounders to rent him out and re sign in the summer, that was pathetic.

[Craftyhunter]

Too many are putting too much on this first rounder crap. Niether of those "prospects" are offensive talents. Nillson is 22 and was sent back down to the minors for cry'in out loud. O'mara is a third liner already. The kid isn't even a point a game in juniors. And lets be honest the oiler scouting staff couldn't pick their own butts. Winchester was a first rounder. First round doesn't mean anything. If you aren't picking in the top three your getting maybe's.

So next year we get 3 first rounders. So what none of them will be on the team for at least 3 years. These "prospects" won't make it either. shremp was supposed to be some great offensive talent and they wouldn't even bring him up for seasoning. This organization is unable to develop young players. They develop on their inspite of our useless coaching staff.

Fact we could have signed Smyth in July for 5 mil for 5 years, seems like a bargin now doesn't it.

Reality is free-agents don't want to come to Edm, they know the commitiment to winning is gone. So come Sept when Looser Lowe hasn't gotten anybody he had better be given the punt.

[Jamie Hunt]

I read that Smyth said both sides were stuck in concrete. Seems they were only a bit apart.
I think a few people need to be lined up and shown the gate.
Lowe. (Close the deal you clown)
Mehan (See above)
Smyth (Apparently his so called love for all things Edmonton doesn’t count in negations)

All that blubbering at the airport was a joke. While watching it I couldn’t help but think Smyth blames himself for this. I think he and his agent got greedy then they got caught with their pants down. And what’s this bit about wanting to win the cup with the NYI and bring it back to Edmonton.
PUKE,PUKE,PUKE
Edmonton will wins its own cup again some day. I think Smyth should stick it in his ear. He could have signed, he could have made the commitment. Instead he is nothing but a selfish brat with a bad haircut.
As for Lowe and Mehan. Both of these guys need a kick in the head. Mehan for being greedy and Lowe for not being able to find the cash and or balls to sign him. One playoff round would have paid for him, make a deal in the summer to loosen up your Cap space, sign him to a personal service contract, guarantee him a job in the front office when he retires.. My kid could have closed this deal.
This deal could have been done. You just had to press the right buttons.
Edmonton be glad Smyth is gone, be even happier when they fire Lowe.
You deserved better Edmonton
Not a good day for Canadian hockey

Jamie

[fishnamed]

So true Jamie, This kind of reminds me of the old Risebrough deal here years ago, we paid for Risebroughs mistakes for years, hope Edmonton figures it out and ships k-low off to somewhere, maybe toronto(thats career suicide), Edmonton does deserve better, I hope the boys theydid pick up in that deal works out for them, i still remember niewendyk for some kid in kamloops named Iginla, seems we did alright in that one.
You don't trade your fan favorite, if you are that close you find the money, i don't think i could even name five oilers now, too bad.

[grandzillaa]

Hope so. I'm not an oiler fan.

[TBark]

Mess gets St Albert trail,
Smyth gets the road to the airport.

Tbark

[Okotokian]

I think this question has now been definitively answered. I don't know about management, but the players certainly have.