The Buffalo Sabres matched the Oilers offer to Vanek for 7 years for 50 million dollars! Darcy Regier said he didn't want to lose another star player. Thank God!

I have no idea what the Oilers are doing. Are they not one of the small market teams that needs low salaries to survive?
By giving a third year player a $50 million contract they are driving salaries up more than anything else that has happened this summer. Vanek was very good this year but this is a crazy salary. I think he will now be the 3rd highest paid player in the league behing only Thornton and Gomez and ahead of both Briere and Drury. This is really going to screw some teams during arbitration.

definetly!
No offense but Briere is over paid the first year with the flyers for 10 million

Wow.. Thats alot. I cant beleive that the Oilers were trying to offer 4 first rounder's wow.

I don't even think that the 4 first rounders is that big of a deal especially when you look at the Oilers drafting history in the first round. It is that down the road they will be complaining that salaries have escalated to qucikly back to where they were before the lockout and they will be one of the main causes of it.

As for Briere getting $10 mil the first year it doesn't really matter what he gets each year it is the average of $6.5 per year that matters. I think it was a little too much to give him too but the Flyers had a lot of cap room and could afford it. I think they overpaid for Hartnell and Timonen as well but need to improve and had the cap room so it doesn't really bother me.