The Puck Stops Here

The Edmonton Oilers are signing GM Kevin Lowe to an extension. This is the GM who has seen his team crumble from game seven in the 2006 Stanley cup finals to one of the weakest in the NHL. The Oilers were forced to trade Chris Pronger (though the trade was rushed and brought back a poor return) and then chose to trade Ryan Smyth. Given the young talent the Oilers had put together this was defensible as the future Oilers team may emerge as a strong one. However, panic struck when the team collapsed down the stretch. Lowe abandoned that plan (if it ever existed) and decided to give up the first round pick (and other draft picks) to overpay for restricted free agent Dustin Penner. That is not a move that is smart for a rebuilding team (whether it may be smart for any other kind of team is another question). Thus it seemed Kevin Lowe was a desperate GM who had a contract ending at the end of the season who looked unlikely to be back. This isn't so. Edmonton is resigning him. What must he do to get fired (or at least not resigned)?

TSN has the story here.

NOTE: The contract extension is for four years. Has Lowe showed enough to get that much more time on the job?