For all the abuse Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe took for signing Dustin Penner to a five-year, $25 million offer sheet last summer, the deal isn't looking so bad.

Penner seems to be growing into his role as a first-line winger, while the first-round draft pick Edmonton gave up to get him will only be 12th overall, not a lottery pick, as the Ducks' GM so gleefully predicted.

"It's just so typical of how people jump to conclusions," Lowe told the Edmonton Sun. "There's not much you can say at the time (when everyone was ripping the deal) except, well, let's wait and see. But I don't get any comfort out of this now because the damage is done—people have had their moment in terms of criticism. ...More