Better options

Surely there were better options to go with for the Edmonton Oilers than Thomas Vanek.

Signing a restricted free agent to an offer sheet is a risky proposal in that it very rarely works and draws the ire of other GM's around the league.

But the issue isn't that Oiler GM Kevin Lowe attempted the offer-sheet move. It's who he did it with - Thomas Vanek and the Buffalo Sabres.

Executives of the Buffalo Sabres got wind of the move days before it actually happened. They warned Lowe that no matter what the offer was that the Sabres were going to match it. And while you can't take everyone at their word, did Kevin Lowe really think the Sabres were going to let go ANOTHER star player this offseason, let alone last week?

Not even a week removed from losing co-captain centres Chris Drury and Daniel Briere to big-money free agent contracts and Dainius Zubrus on top of it, the Sabres were not going to let go of their 23-year old, leading goal scorer no matter what the price. No way.
4 first round draft picks is a nice way to build for your future, but the Sabres aren't going to let themselves rebuild this soon. They just came off two great seasons where they went to the Conference final both times, including winning the President's Trophy in '06-'07. If they had let Vanek walk, on top of their other free agency losses, they are already waving the white flags for '07-'08.
This years team will have some huge holes to fill, but could still be a playoff team, and the playoffs are where teams make money. Buffalo is small-market and doesn't want to miss out on any of that money. They couldn't allow themselves to go from league's top draw to obscurity in a week's time and Kevin Lowe should have known this.

Honestly, I don't think the Sabres will be all that upset in a couple of years when they have one of the leagues premier talents under contract, allowing them to avoid another scenario that took place with Drury and Briere. Yes, they're overpaying now, but it very could be a very nice deal down the road for Buffalo.

But, surely, there were better, more realistic, more attainable candidates for Kevin Lowe to sign to an offer sheet.
Buffalo GM Darcy Regier hit it right on the nose when he said, "what this amounted to was an exercise in futility."