Quoting: TheNextOilerGM
Sir.. you know Winnik was making 2 mill less than Laich and it wasn’t like Laich wasn’t completely useless either so... all that for 2 mill of cap relief, sike. Basically they just swapped positions as bottom 6 centers for their teams as well.
Laich played 33 more NHL games after that trade, I definitely wouldn't say they just swapped, he had extremely negative value. The last season of his contract the Leafs had to burry him, do you think they traded for him to do that? Meanwhile Winnik had 12 goals and 13 assists for the Caps playing 4th line and PK. The Caps were running into a cap situation as well in the offseason which limited their options. 2.25mil comes off the books and they have to unload Carrick and a 2nd. Without Laich in that trade it looks a lot different and not as much is given up. Winnik is not worth a 2nd, and Chiasson is not worth a 2nd.
Just some comparable trade deadline deals as well to drive my point home:
Tomas Vanek (had 38 pts in 48 games before being traded) traded for an career AHL player and a 3rd
Patrick Eaves (had 37 pts in 59 games before being traded) traded for a conditional 2nd
Mark Streit (had 21 pts in 49 games before being traded) traded for a 4th
Just picked 2017 and I found all of these players, who got less of a return, but who I think we can agree are better players than Chiasson.