Quoting: Bcarlo25
Well let's hold the phone here, it's not like he's Hal Gill. His only full season he had 20 points which isn't non existent offensive coming from a d man. Last year he had 18 in around 60 games, so that shows an improvement. I think he's a lot like Hjalmarsson, except with his prime ahead of him, and those guys are so essential to winning clubs. He's a 5 million + guy now, with definitely 6+ million upside.
He is a better, more impactful hockey player than Nylander. He also has one of the best contracts in the NHL, and it's over a very long term. Nylander does not have a contract, and is a few days from being on the shelf for the remainder of the season.
For all the talk of Pesce being a complimentary player, Nylander is the exact same thing.
If you check out their WAR numbers, Nylander is incredibly more valuable than Pesce. Pesce doesn't win you games, he prevents you from losing some but he doesn't win you games. That's the difference between a defensive defenceman and a skilled two way player. One of those will do things that create chances for your team to take control of a game. The other just makes it harder for teams to do that to do you. Which of course is very valuable but a player that can't win you games is never as valuable as a player that can win games for you.
Carolina is a team that plays a game that makes it hard for you to score on them, and they still lose a lot. Why? Because they can't score, they need Nylander and Toronto doesn't need Pesce, sure they likely want him, I'd want him too, but I certainly wouldn't give up Nylander to get him. That's just silly.
Here is the thing that everyone it seems has forgotten. Last season the pecking order in TO was Matthews, Nylander and Marner. Marner came on strong at the end of the season and had a great playoffs which has vaulted him past Nylander but Nylander is right there talent wise. Would you trade Marner for Pesce? Of course not, that is just silly. Marner can take over a game with his skill. Pesce can't. Nylander can take a game over with his skill, Pesce can't.
MaCovoy can take a game over with his skill, Slavin can at times, Seth Jones, etc. Guys like that are players who impact the game in massive ways. Hell, even Jake Gardiner can at times take games over with his skill (He's a dumpster fire in his own zone way too often so don't take this as me saying he's amazing, he isn't). Pesce doesn't have those talents, which is why trading a high talent, fast, young player with immense upside for Pesce is a terrible move. Carolina would have to add something that could turn into a high skill top 6 winger in the future to make it fair.