More Trade Thoughts

Just to follow up on the comments from my previous post....

I wasn't necessarily arguing that Smyth should have been paid whatever he was asking for. Like I said, I don't think he's worth that kind of money. I agree with DL in that NHL players are paid way more than they should be paid, but if I was them I'd probably be fighting for as much of the green stuff as I could get. I mean, who doesn't want a raise!

My point was focused around the issue that in the new NHL, the best players can pick and choose where they want to play. I referenced David Staples article in last Sunday's Journal, which I thought really addressed this issue. Smyth WANTED to be here, and the honest reality is that not many of the best NHL players WANT to be here (remember Pronger?).

If this is part of the new NHL reality, then how exactly are the Oilers going to respond? If we want top notch talent, then how are we going to entice them to come here. We can argue all we want that they should come here 'just for the love of the game', but let's deal with reality: Edmonton isn't exactly known as a 'hot spot' to live; we might have a great reputation as a hockey town, but that doesn't go very far in today's NHL.

My opinion is that salaries in professional sports are more connected to your past than your future; players are 'rewarded' for their level of play in previous seasons, not necessarily for what they will do. Thus, I guess in my more ideal world, salaries would be highly laiden with performance bonus', so that they are getting paid for what they currently achieve, rather than what they have achieved in the past.

Smyth has has some great years. Does it make sense to pay him so much for the next 5 years when his production will almost certainly go down? No, and that's the point I hear Darren making. I would agree.

I like Smyth a lot, and I really like the fact that he WANTS to play and live here in Edmonton. The fact that he's planning on making Edmonton his 'off season' home speaks volumes about that. Do any of the other Oilers stay here in the off season? I don't know. That said, even taking that into account as well as the talk about Smyth's leadership in the locker room, the stark reality of this season is that the Oilers were basically out of the playoffs BEFORE Smyth got traded.

Obviously there are arguments on both sides. My main point is that the Oilers need to deal with the issue of how to entice and keep top talent in an NHL where players can choose to play in whatever city appeals to them most.