Dustin Penner Analysis

Well you all should know by now that Dustin Penner has signed an offer sheet worth $21.25 million over 5 years with the Edmonton Oilers. This breaks down to $4.25 million per year. Penner is a restriced free agent so unless the Ducks match his offer he will packing his bags and heading home to the Great White North. Since Penner was earning $450,000 on his entry level contract this gives him quite a hefty raise. I think this is a good move for Penner. Here is why:

1. That's a hefty pay raise for a second year player. That is equivalent to Teemu's base salary before any bonuses.

2. At times Penner's playing has seemed unispired. Nothing like rabid Oilers fans to keep you motivated.

3. He is now a first liner. In a team where nobody who is left has scored more goals than he did this season, he is the proverbial big man.

4. The challenge. It's one thing to be a second liner on the team that was supposed to win the cup in the fist place, it is another to be on a team destined to be looking forward to the next draft.

5. Did I mention $4.25 million per year.

There are other good reasons and plenty of bad reasons. Here are some of the bad reasons:

1. He is signing on to a team that has only a longshot chance at winning the cup.

2. He has a much weaker team of supporting players.

3. He is still young and would have a great opportunity to learn some of the finer points of being a big man from Bertuzzi.

4. There is a reason so many players prefer to leave Edmonton. For some it is the weather, for others it is Craig MacTavish.

So the remaining questions at least for me are:

Will Burke match the offer?

Will Niedermyer let us know sooner if he is going to retire? This will free up a lot of cap space if he does.

If Scottie does not retire, who do we trade to get some cap space?

If Burke does sign him, what does this mean for Getzlaf and Perry when their contracts are up?

The Ducks will survive and still have the opportunity to win the Cup again. It will be more of a challenge but the other players will step up and fill that spot. Well the next post will be all the links you need to know everything about the Penner situation.