Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke continues to very busy in recent days. After swinging two trades in a week and placing goalie Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers, Burke also found the time to re-sign one of his key players today to a multi-year contract.

Center Ryan Getzlaf, who’s emerged as one of the Ducks brightest stars, was re-signed to a five-year, $26.5 million contract, which breaks down to an annual cap hit of $5.3 million per season.

Getzlaf was slated to become a restricted free agent next July, making him eligible to receive offer sheets from rival clubs.

Having lost winger Dustin Penner last summer to the Edmonton Oilers via an offer sheet it’s apparent Burke wasn’t going to risk losing Getzlaf the same way, or to have a rival team dictate Getzlaf’s contract.

Getzlaf is only 22, and with 21 points in 19 games is on pace for an 88-point season, which would be a career-best to date. Given the fact he’s yet to reach his prime and could hit even higher point totals in future seasons, $5.3 million per season could end up being a bargain for the Ducks as salaries for the league’s top players keep rising in the coming years.

With Getzlaf now under contract, Burke’s attention will turn to Corey Perry, who’s also slated for RFA status next July and like Getzlaf is on pace for a career-best season, currently on track for 43 goals and 70 points.

Don’t be surprised if Perry is re-signed long before July 1, 2008.

The Getzlaf signing is yet another example of the ripple effect throughout the league by the Edmonton Oilers successfully signing away Penner from the Ducks last summer as well as their unsuccessful attempt at signing Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek.

General managers can no longer assume they have the luxury of an entire summer to negotiate new contracts with their top restricted free agents, not when there’s perhaps a desperate rival with available cap space and a willingness to overspend waiting to pounce.

One week after the Edmonton Oilers signed Anaheim Ducks forward Dustin Penner to a five-year, $21.5 million contract, Ducks general manager Brian Burke announced he wouldn’t match the offer, allowing Penner to officially become an Oiler.

In return the Ducks will receive as compensation the Oilers first, second and third round picks in 2008.

Debate has been considerable both on this blog and elsewhere in hockey cyberspace as to whether or not this is a good signing by the Oilers.

It’s obvious that Penner at this point in his career isn’t worth a $4.3 million per season salary, but that’s what it took – an unmatchable offer – for Oilers GM Kevin Lowe to ensure he’d get his man.

For Burke, it’s easier to let Penner walk, although he bears the responsibility for allowing this situation to occur in the first place. If he’d re-signed Penner to a more reasonable $2-$2.5 million per season contract (comparable that which the Oilers signed Joffrey Lupul to last year), none of this would’ve happened.

Still, it’s a minor loss for Burke, who was likely more upset over the fact it was his good buddy Lowe who signed away Penner.

Burke’s priority is to ensure he re-signs the better-talented former linemates of Penner, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

Both these players become restricted free agents next summer, and both are likely to command as much – if not more – than what their former linemate received from the Oilers.

And if Burke hopes to prevent another team from trying to pitch those two offer sheets next July, he’d best be starting contract talks now, before their respective performances in the upcoming season potentially drives their value even higher.

Don’t blame Penner for signing that offer sheet, Ducks fans. He saw a chance to make big money, much more than he was being offer by the Ducks, and decided to take it, thus ensuring financial security for himself and his family.

And don’t blame Kevin Lowe for pitching that offer, for he’s fully entitled to do so under the CBA. Burke had plenty of time and opportunity to keep Penner off the market and failed to do so.

All eyes will now be on the Oilers next season and how well Penner performs.

Kevin Lowe is taking a huge gamble with Penner, one that could end up costing him his job.

If Penner plays like the second coming of John LeClair (or even a reasonable facsimile), Lowe will look like a genius for not only signing him away from the Ducks, but getting him for a bargain price of $4.3 million per season for five years.

However, if Penner should fold like his former Ducks teammates Lupul did last season with the Oilers, Lowe will have saddled his team with an immovable contract eating up valuable cap space, and that could end up being the epitaph of his career as the Oilers’ general manager.

It’s a huge risk, and even if Penner plays reasonably well there’s no certainty that he’ll make the Oilers a better hockey team.  

There’ll be pressure on Penner to perform well and play up to now-lofty (and perhaps unreasonable) expectations, but even if he tanks it, he’s guaranteed big money for the next five years.

That contract is the only guarantee thus far in this situation. 

As of this writing the Anaheim Ducks have two more days to match the five-year, $21.5 million contract offer tendered to restricted free agent forward Dustin Penner by the Edmonton Oilers. 

Ducks GM Brian Burke stated in his press conference on the subject last Friday he intended to take as much time as he needed to weigh his options before making his decision, and at this rate it appears he'll take the full allotted time of one week to do so.

Some observers believe Burke made up his mind shortly after receiving notification of the Oilers offer for Penner, others believe he is in fact taking the time to consider all his options. Either way, there's agreement that Burke will take as much time as he can to keep Oilers GM Kevin Lowe twisting in the wind awaiting his decision.

To recap, if Burke declines to match the Oilers' offer, he loses Penner but received the Oilers first, second and third round picks in the 2008 entry draft. If he matches, he'll be on the hook to Penner for $4.3 million per season for the next five seasons.

For either the Oilers or Ducks, that salary will either prove a bargain if Penner blossoms into a top power forward or a nearly immovable one that'll cut deeply into their cap space.

So, the question now is, does Burke match or not? I'm thinking he won't, and I'll be very interested to read what all of you reading this post think.  

Either way, it'll be interesting to see how this ends.

The hockey world will have to wait a little while for the Anaheim Ducks decision on Dustin Penner's offer sheet.

Ducks GM Brian Burke addressed the situation on Friday, July 27th, telling the Canadian Press that he expects to meet with Ducks ownership on Sunday to discuss their options. Burke was being inducted into the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame, which would explain why he didn't immediately respond to the offer sheet on Thursday.

The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday tendered a five-year, $21.5 million contract to Penner. The Ducks have one week to match the offer or lose Penner to the Oilers, receiving the Oilers 2008 first, second and third round picks.

As expected, Burke had some choice words for Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, who's also considered one of Burke's good friends. As per Canadian Press:

"I have no problem with offer sheets, they are part of the CBA," Burke said on a conference call. "I think it's a tool certainly a team is entitled to use. My issue here is this is the second time this year in my opinion Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player, and it impacts on all 30 teams and I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job."

The way it all came down also bothered Burke.

"I was not notified of this until an agent faxed it into us," he said. "I thought Kevin would have called me and told me it was coming. I thought that was gutless."

Burke was also disappointed with the timing of it _ Burke was entering the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame in Penticton, B.C., on Friday night.

"Kevin Lowe has been in Penticton this week," Burke said. "Tonight is the induction ceremony for the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame and I certainly think this could have waited until Monday. I don't think it shows a lot of respect for the B.C Hockey Hall of Fame.

"I think it's a classless move timing-wise."

Sabres GM Darcy Regier, who matched an earlier offer sheet from the Oilers for forward Thomas Vanek, also chimed in:

"I still don't believe that this will be an effective way to acquire players," Regier told The Canadian Press on Friday. "There will be circumstances where the odd offer sheet will not be matched but I think it'll be driven because of cap issues.

"But generally, and I may end up being wrong, but I'm in the camp where I don't thinks this is going to work."

Well, boo-hoo-hoo.

Forgive me if I don't have any sympathy for either Regier or Burke.

As I noted in my recent Foxsports.com article, Burke had plenty of warning that Lowe was trolling the offer sheet waters when the Oilers GM made his seven-year, $50 million pitch for Vanek. He could've re-signed Penner to a more affordable $2-$2.5 million per season contract (comparable to former Duck Joffrey Lupul), or taken Penner to arbitration thus making him ineligible to receive an offer sheet.

But Burke didn't do those things, so he's got no right to huff and puff about it. I think he's just ticked because it was his buddy Lowe who did this. Burke's one of the better GMs in the league but this time he got caught napping.

As for Regier, there was widespread speculation back in May that Vanek could be a target for an offer sheet, but he didn't use that time to re-sign Vanek to keep him off the market. Rather than paying the talented forward a more affordable salary, say, comparable to Carolina's Eric Staal, Regier is now paying Vanek over $7 million per season for the next seven year.

Yes, Lowe's offer sheet efforts will drive up the salaries of comparables, but it's his right to do so under the current collective bargaining agreement.

You know, the "owners" CBA? The one that guys like Burke and Regier claimed in 2005 would make it possible for their respective teams to be competitive.

As Chrissie Hynde once sang: "It is time for you to stop all of your sobbing".

Just when you thought the Edmonton Oilers were done going the offer sheet route this summer, they've struck again. 

TSN reports the Oilers have tendered a five year, $21.5 million offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks forward Dustin Penner, a Group II (restricted) free agent.

Oilers GM Kevin Lowe made headlines earlier in July with a seven-year, $50 million offer sheet to Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek, which the Sabres promptly (and angrily) matched.

As of this writing there's no word yet from Ducks GM Brian Burke if he'll match the offer for Penner or not. Burke has one week from the time the offer was accepted by the Penner camp to decide if he'll match, otherwise Penner will become an Oiler.  If Burke announces he won't match, Penner becomes an Oiler.

TSN reports last season was Penner's first full one in the NHL, scoring 29 goals and 45 points. Regardless of whether or not he becomes an Oiler, he's now guaranteed to earn $4.3 million per season, which is how it'll be counted against the cap no matter the distribution of the salary.

$4.3 million per is a lot of money to spend on a guy who's only played one full NHL season and it's a heckuva gamble on Lowe's part. While Penner definitely appears poised to become a power forward, it's possible that this could backfire on Lowe, just as the acquisition of Joffrey Lupul as part of the return for Chris Pronger did.

Lupul was coming off a 28-goal, 53-point performance in 2005-06 with the Ducks and big things were expected of him last season with the Oilers. Unfortunately, the hometown boy failed to rise to the occasion, and his woeful performance got him packaged with Jason Smith to Philadephia earlier this month.

It remains to be seen what Burke's reaction will be, but regardless of his decision, you can bet he won't be a happy camper. If you thought the Sabres management were spitting mad over Lowe's attempt to sign away Vanek, wait until you see Burke's reaction, for it'll be very surprising if he doesn't erupt.

I'll update this post further as more news about this comes in.