Quoting: Leafs_and_Sens_Fan
#1
Erik Karlsson had 1 year on his deal. Eichel has 5...
#2
Sens got a massive return for Karlsson in Tim Stutzle.
And Karlsson signed an extension with San Jose, which was the Sharks primary intention after acquiring him. So the contract length debate is kinda thrown out the door.
It also wasn't a "massive return" at the time, & many people thought San Jose got off light in the deal. Sens got:
Middle 6 young NHL player (Tierney)
Middle age bottom 4 defenceman (Demelo)
Rights to a top prospect (Norris)
A guaranteed 1st (Stuetzle)
A prospect that has a high ceiling but needed a lot of work (Balcers)
A 2nd round pick (later traded to Carolina)
A conditional 1st (conditions never met so pick was never received by Ottawa)
So outta all of that, the only real valuable piece they got was Stuetzle. & at the time of the trade the 1st wasn't highly valued because San Jose was seen as a top team, they just **** the bed that year so Ottawa got lucky.
That's by no means a "massive return" when they really only got 1 highly valued piece.