The Edmonton Oilers signed restricted free agent forward Dustin Penner to a five-year contract on Thursday after the Anaheim Ducks opted not to match the offer, making the Manitoba native the first the first restricted free agent to find a new team via offer sheet in the last ten years.

 

The five-year contract will earn the 24-year-old left winger approximately $21.25 million (U.S.), $4.25 million in each of the next five seasons, a great deal more than the minimum wage of $450,000 he made last year.

 

The Anaheim Ducks, who will get picks in the first, second and third rounds of the 2008 draft from Edmonton as compensation, had a seven day term to match the Oilers’ offer, but they waited

until yesterday's deadline before letting everybody know it was letting Penner go.

 

"We don't believe these salaries make sense," Ducks GM Brian Burke said. "If I believe these salaries don't make sense and I match then I'm just as dumb as the team that extended the offer.''

 

This is Edmonton’s second attempt of this sort after early this month they have gone after restricted free agent Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres, but that time failed to sign the Austrian as the Sabres matched their seven-year, $50 million offer.

 

Penner was never drafted. He was discovered and signed as a free agent by the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, after he played for the University of Maine in the NCAA. He is most known for his long struggle in minor hockey, and his unlikely rise from being unknown to making the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup.

 

Dustin Penner played 19 games for the Mighty Ducks In his first season as a pro, the 2005-06 NHL Season he amounted 4 goals, 3 assists and 7 points in total. But, he was sent down to play for the Ducks' current minor affiliate, the Portland Pirates, on and off during the regular season.

 

The 2006-07 NHL Season was Penner’s breakout year. He remained on the roster of the newly-named Anaheim Ducks for the entire season, scoring 29 goals, 16 assists, and 45 points. He scored the second most goals on the team, only trailing superstar Teemu Selanne.

 

The playoffs started out well for Penner when he scored the game-winning goal in game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Minnesota Wild in the 2007 NHL Playoffs.

 

Penner also scored the game-winning goal in game 4 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals in a 3-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators to give Anaheim a 3-1 series lead. On June 6, 2007, Penner and the Ducks defeated the Senators 6-2 to win the Stanley Cup.