Quoting: RangersFan1994
Does a second round pick mean nothing to you? I mean, I get it’ll probably be in the 50’s somewhere, but there are plenty of good players that come out of that section of the draft. For example, Nikita Kucherov was drafted 58th overall in his draft. Duncan Keith went 54th overall. Patrik Elias went 51st overall. Do you get the point yet? Buffalo sucks right now, and they need to build for the future, so upgrading their pick would be good for them. Ottawa, on the other hand, could definitely stop building for the future soon, and giving up a first round pick for a lower pick and a player they know will be very good for them, makes this a fair deal for both teams in my eyes.
I'm not saying a 2nd is nothing. I'm saying that even with a 2nd, this isn't good value for a top ten pick.
The Sens have drafted five times in the 2nd round over the last two drafts, and they have another four 2nds over the next two. I'm not saying they should turn their nose up at adding more 2nds, but right now it makes
way more sense to continue to try and bring in the highest level skill possible, and again, I think there is a meaningful gap in upside between John-Jason Peterka and players like Kent Johnson/Fabian Lysell/Mason McTavish that should be available with that pick (not saying Peterka is bad).
The only way it makes sense to trade that pick is if you are bringing in someone who is better than what you expect players drafted there to become. That means in a trade for a more established NHL star, because nobody is trading a prospect of that level for less valuable future assets.