[Chief Rum]

I don't know enough about Comrie to say what kind of person he is, although he is going to find the Ducks to be a pretty tight group, and if he comes in with an attitude, he's going to get put in his place pretty quick.

How much was he supposed to make up until now (from September to now)? If it was $2.5 M, then I can understand the stipulation at least.

I still don't think Comrie should have been getting checks, and screw the NHLPA if they think otherwise. You don't play, the team doesn't pay. Breach of contract. That's the way it should be. If the NHLPA somehow finagled this into being legal, then the NHL execs are dumb as shit. Of course, for that same reason, the Oilers don't have any right to get that money back, because they offered that contract under those rules and accepted the risks of Comrie holding out.

As for the stipulations of the trade, there's a difference between the technicals here and the way one goes about things. The Oilers and Ducks had a deal in place, agreed to, to the point that the Ducks actually worked out a contract settlement with Comrie. You don't get to do that unless a trade in principle has been agreed to. Lowe basically shook Murray's hand and said, "He is yours, soon as you work out a deal with him."

Then when the deal was done, and everyone came back to Lowe to sign the official deal, and he drops this? Sure, the paper isn't signed, but that is just plain lowball. Had Lowe mentioned something like this before, so that all parties were aware he would want some compensation in this form, and they went into the deal fully expecting that, well, that is one thing. But he didn't even mention it. No one knew a thing about this until the deal was about to become official.

Neither Comrie nor the Ducks are responsible for finding the Oilers a replacement center. If the Oilers want a center, then they need to find someone who will give them a center for Comrie. Or get a center on their own, above and beyond any deal involving Comrie. Apparently, the Ducks' offer is the best they can get. And if Lowe keeps it up, pretty soon he won't have the Ducks' deal in place anymore, and the Oilers will continue to pay a player a lot of money while he sits on his ass and does a whole lot of nothing.

CR