panoo

Ken Holland says the salary cap is forcing NHL GMs to become more aggressive, and that moves like the recent offer sheet to Dustin Penner soon won't be out of the ordinary, reports Dave Waddell.
Dave Waddell, The Windsor Star
Published: Saturday, August 04, 2007

DETROIT - The dilemma Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke faced Thursday in deciding whether to match Edmonton's offer to restricted free agent Dustin Penner is going to become more commonplace, says Detroit general manager Ken Holland.

In Holland's opinion, the salary cap is forcing teams to become more predatory and general managers have to alter their approach if they don't want their pool of budding stars to get picked over.

In the end, Burke decided not to match the five-year, $21.25-million U.S. offer for Penner, and the Stanley Cup champions will receive three draft picks from the Oilers.

"I think what you're seeing this summer is how the salary cap world is going to work," Holland said. "If you have a premier RFA, you better address it. If not, you're opening yourself up."

Holland said restricted free agent offers aren't going to flood the market because it requires a certain talent and situation for them to be successful.

However, with Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe having tendered a pair of big offers this summer and former Philadelphia Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke doing the same a year ago, there's no doubt any gentleman's agreement about not using that tool has been tossed aside.

"They won't be everyday business, but I expect to see more of them," Holland said. "I think it's viewed as easier to do that now since we've seen a few of them. Nobody likes to be first doing these sort of things, but that's not an issue now."

While Burke complained that Lowe is inflating salaries of younger players with his two offer sheets, Holland doesn't see this issue as being the driving force in the recent trend of young players receiving contracts worth $3 million to $4 million per season.

He feels the gradual lowering of the unrestricted free agent age to 27 is more responsible for salary inflation.

"You get a player for (three years) at an entry-level contract and then they're likely 22 or 23," Holland said. "You hope to get them cheap for another year or two, but then you're looking at them being RFAs at 25.

"That's why you're seeing young guys identified as potential core players getting these three- or four-year deals for $3 million or $4 million. If you let them get too close to free agency, they're just going to wait the extra year to test the market and see if they'll get that blown-out-of-the water offer."

FULL STORY