Quoting: hockeyfanatic05
Just watch the games. He always out of position and gets beat. You look at his hits and think he's good. Anderson is playing on a horrible team and still puts up solid numbers. Faster, younger, less injuries, etc. Nobody other than you would take Hornqvist over Anderson
But the trade suggestion was not Anderson for Hornqvist, it was Anderson for Hornqvist and a 1st. I would take Hornqvist and a 1st over Anderson every day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
Hornqvist is the better player on the ice. To suggest otherwise simply means that you do not watch many games. Anderson is tough and is not a schlub by any means though. But going from Hornqvist to Anderson is a step down. Anderson is a lower cap this year, but he is an RFA with arbitration rights. That means that the cap aid could be very short lived indeed. Also, as much as it might hurt some people to admit it... Hornqvist is much more of a leader on the Pens than anyone that has a letter on their jersey. Yes, anyone. The leadership value of Malkin or Letang is laughable. Crosby does inspire through action, but is a quiet "leader". Hornqvist gives every bit as much effort as Crosby, if not more, and is vocal.
So, if you want to get out from under Hornqvist's contract for cap reasons, there is some value there, but the arbitration RFA status undermines that somewhat. There is not going to be a (single pick) 1st, or a 2nd, involved though. If for discussion sake you want to say something like Hornqvist + 2nd for Anderson + 3rd, that could be discussed, but Hornqvist +1st for Anderson is just silly.