I looked on TSN, NHL.com and SLAM Hockey and this is all I could find about Marchant. I sure hope the Rangers don't get him. He'll fizzle out there just like every other player does.
www.canoe.ca/Slam030701/nhl_edm3-sun.htmlOilers say you're free to go
Club Lowe-balls Marchant, cuts Cleary loose
By ROBIN BROWNLEE -- Edmonton Sun
Todd Marchant wanted the opportunity to shop his services to the highest bidder. Today, he has it.
But, while Marchant has many fond memories of a distinguished decade with the Edmonton Oilers, a tenure that ended at midnight last night, he was considerably less nostalgic about the final days before his foray into unrestricted free agency.
Namely, the contract proposal he received from GM Kevin Lowe late last week - a standard 10% qualifying offer that was for one-year at $1.68 million US.
One year? For 10%? That's an offer, in Marchant's assessment, that said: "Thanks for the decade, and don't let the door hit you on the backside on the way out of town."
Don't worry. He won't.
'THAT'S FINE'
"If that's what they want to call an offer then, yes, they made me an offer," Marchant said yesterday. "That tells me they don't want me, and that's fine.
"My agent and I haven't had any contact with Kevin or the Oilers other than having an envelope arrive in the mail first class telling me they were offering a 10% bump."
When Marchant, 29, and agent Lewis Gross took Lowe's offer of $1.54 million US last July, they did so knowing the pact would make Marchant an unrestricted free agent as a 10-year pro making under the NHL average salary. It's an out-clause under the current collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA The Sun first told you about July 17.
It was a calculated move by Marchant. It's a move, after a season in which Marchant had career highs of 20-40-60, that makes him one of the more attractive free agents this summer.
So, what, exactly, is the Little Guy unhappy about?
"The Oilers were holding a full house with the ace of spades and they threw the ace of spades away," Marchant said.
"That's the way I look at it. They had all of the cards last summer and they didn't throw the hand down.
"Instead, they decided to discard a 10-year player who filled an important role on their team. That's fine. They're going in a certain direction and so are we."
Marchant will command in excess of $5 million for two years, with the New York Rangers, Buffalo and Philadelphia the teams likeliest to come calling. So, what's not to like?
"People always question loyalty in professional sports and it's always blamed on the players," Marchant said. "Players don't show loyalty. Players don't do this, they don't do that.
"I've shown loyalty, and look where it got me. I never complained about a contract. My first contract was five years. I took what I was given. Now, I've used a system that's in place for a reason. Now, this is the way you get treated."
Lowe, who has depth at centre in Mike Comrie, Jarret Stoll, Marty Reasoner and Shawn Horcoff, wasn't willing to engage in a bidding war to keep Marchant this summer when he could've locked him up for two years for $4 million US last July, but chose not to.
TIME WILL TELL, SAYS LOWE
"Reality is, there's only so much money," said Lowe, resisting the urge to get into a slanging match. "Time will tell, but we feel we have enough good people to make up for him at a lesser price."
So, Marchant will get his pay day. That said, it shouldn't be lost in the ill will of this clumsy parting of ways that the Little Guy had a pretty good run here.
"My family and I have loved Edmonton," Marchant said. "We're certainly going to miss it. The people there have been very gracious to us. My three children were born there.
"It's home to us, more so than Buffalo is now, but the writing is obviously on the wall that it's time for us to move on."
Obtained from the Rangers for Craig MacTavish March 21, 1994, Marchant will cash in with 343 points in 679 career regular-season games as an Oiler in the books.
He made his mark, of course, in the 1997 playoffs when his overtime winner in Game 7 beat Dallas. It was his finest moment and one he could not recapture as the Oilers bowed to the Stars in six games this spring.
"I have no regrets about playing in Edmonton," Marchant said. "I will not let this episode leave a bad taste in my mouth. I'm grateful for the opportunity I got in Edmonton. Let's leave it at that."
