I think its pretty good on management for never bringing up the fact that good free agents don't choose to play in Edmonton for less money. our only recipe for success is going to be drafting and development. that said, I don't understand why we are trading those developed players. by looking at the numbers, its not a far cry to say we have a problem. they had built up a decent prospect pool pre-lockout 2004. and 2005/06 could be the product of having a team that didn't suffer because of the cap. they traded a few picks to make it happen. but to me, something happened shortly after, that created this stigma with the club. making it the last place players want to go. If media could do this team/city any justice, it would be finding out why. but going forward, the more success this team has, the more players will want to play here. look at Perron, is he going to get more money on the open market with 50points while carrying the oilers second line, or 70 points tapping in rebounds on Crosby's wing. Players are paid based upon a certain success rate, and in Edmonton there is none. and won't be any until draft picks can finally carry the load. Because we have the team the Gretzky was traded from. Messier too. Traded Doug Weight, Ryan Smyth... This team will have to be built through the draft, whether we like it or not. It just hasn't happened yet. If someone has a magic recipe to change that... it would be useful info. but Lowe threw a ton of cash around to get guys to come here, and even Michael Nylander played us like fools. If money isn't going to talk... We need a different solution, and something tells me they aren't turning down extra's of millions because they don't like Kevin Lowe or Craig MacTavish. And Daryl Katz is the guy spending billions to make Edmonton a better place. so please, be nice.