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Originally Posted by Kenadyan
Lowe has the upper hand here people, NOT Comrie.  |
Lowe has the upper hand? Hmmmmm, then why is Comrie not in uniform and playing for the "generous" offer that Lowe has tabled? Afterall, Lowe has the upper hand and Comrie and his agent have no power at all. Comrie is just going to roll over and sign what ever deal Lowe tosses on the table. Its just a formality that has yet to take place.
Pull your head out of where ever you are sitting and get into the real world. Players holding out have just as much power as the team being held hostage. If they didn't, they wouldn't hold out. Fact is that no one has any "control" over the situation, and it gets uglier as the time passes. Sure, Lowe can make Comrie sit, but how does that help his value? Other teams will see that it is very evident that Comrie will never play for the Oilers again and loweball them. It happens with every holdout that runs an extended period.
I just don't see any reasoning behind the side that says the Oilers are going to come out whole in this situation. Consider:
1) Comrie is holding out. The is hold out number two in his very short career. Teams do not like dealing with guys like this. Teams do not like taking on other teams problems without getting something back for their troubles. Comrie has proven to be trouble twice in his three year career. Not a good bargaining position when discussing trade.
2) Comrie wants a stupid amount of money. His base will be reasonable, but he wants a similar incentive package put in place so he can make another killing in bonuses. No one wants to set a guy up so he's guaranteed a good chunk of coin, and then set him up to make a huge amount on the backend of the deal with easy bonuses. Lowe screwed the pooch in the first contract and its coming back to bite him in the ass. Something he is going to have to get out of himself.
3) Comrie is small. No arguing that. There are limited positions available for small players in the NHL and that is going to hurt his value. Argue all you want about how "talented" he is, but it holds no water. Small players have little value. Look at Marc Savard and Dan Briere for proof.
4) Comrie is weak defensively. He put up some good numbers in his first full season but followed those up with poor ones last year. Some are going to argue that he was injured last season. Big deal. Guys get injured all the time. It seems that the ones defending Comrie on his injury are the same ones that point out the injury history of other players when being discussed. You want it one way, it works against your guy as well. Maybe you can add injury prone to the list of issues a team must consider now when considering Comrie?
5) The Oilers have all the time in the world, there is no pressure on the team to perform, or so a few very short sighted fans say. Comrie can sit on the sidelines and there is no pressure on Lowe to get a return for him, even as the losses mount. The Oilers are in it for the long haul (or at least they are if the CBA is in their favour) and they don't need to win this year. Hell, they can miss the playoffs and be a non-factor all season and the fans will still keep coming out in droves. Sorry, the history of the realtionship between the team and the fans say otherwise.
6) Other teams are affected by losing (but not the Oilers of course). Other teams will panic and throw everything including the kitchen sink at the Oilers to get the hold out Comrie on their team and turn their season around. They'll happily over-pay the small center just to get his massive talents in the lineup. Well, maybe they won't. Seems other teams have tried to align themselves for the realities of the post-CBA world and are not willing to take on more contracts that over-pay players. But that's just conjecture that has been floating around the water coolers. No proof of that at all. Oh, and if losing is okay for one team, why would it not be okay for another? Another hole in that logic.
There is very little historical evidence to back up the side of the argument that says the Oilers will be able to get fair value for Comrie. None actually. As this thing drags out it is going to get uglier and uglier. The return will get smaller and smaller. Lowe has to do something and soon. Either get Comrie in unifrom and playing, or trade his rights. The longer he spends on the sidelines in a mud slinging match the worse the offers are going to get.