Kevin Lowe and the Playoffs

Oh no no! Not this year silly.

Rather, I'm bringing forth a question - does Kevin Lowe put too much weight on playoff performance when making transactions?

Examples:
1) Dwayne Roloson - Everyone knew that Dwayne Roloson was playing way over his head in the playoffs. That type of SV% was never sustainable in the long run, and the cracks started to show in the Anaheim series.

So...under what basis was he extended 3 years for?

The money was fine - the contract length wasn't.

Manny Legace, however, put up strong numbers throughout the regular season. MC79 was on board, at that time, suggesting the Oilers pick up Legace instead of Roloson. Legace signed for a mere 1.4M/1 year deal. Roloson, meanwhile, provided the Oilers with less than league average goaltending in year 1 of the contract, and has reverted to a backup role in year 2. Did anyone expect a 37 year old goaltender who was never a full-time starter in his career, to revitalize his career a la Tommy Salo, 1999?

2) Marty Reasoner, an integral part in the Doug Weight deal. Marty had a solid playoffs in 2000-2001, scoring many key GWG in the 10 game span.

3) Joffrey Lupul in the Pronger deal instead of one of Penner/Perry/Getzlaf. Lupul's playoff bottom line:

16 GP, 9G, 2A, 11 PTS, +9.

The regular season? Old news. The playoffs are what earn you 6 Stanley Cup Rings.

An added bonus, Lupul is a GAB (Good Alberta Boy) Copyright: Dennis

4) Fernando Pisani's contract extension. According to Scott Howson, the Oilers didn't give Pisani the 1.1M he was asking for in January 2006 and wanted to wait it out. Then came the playoffs. Strong Performance. Poof! "Here you go, an additional 1.4M, no questions asked."

5) Craig MacTavish's 4 year contract extension after the playoffs. Lowe/Oilers had declined to exercise the team option of MacTavish's contract after the regular season.

Just a theory.

I like Kevin Lowe - he's an epitome of an Oiler. He's a genuine, down-to-earth person [I've met him]. Of all the GM's in the league, he's first choice would be that he finishes his career in Edmonton with one Stanley Cup ring as a GM. However, like Scotiabank commercial suggests, perhaps it's time for Kevin Lowe to get a "second onion."