Quoting: Ledge_And_Dairy
And Kuzy being slightly better than Monahan makes Calgary consider this awful trade why?
Kuznetsov & Monahan both hit the NHL in 13‐14. Since then, they've played 520 games & 591 games, respectively. Here's how they rank for centers (min. 400 GP)
Pts/60 :
EK - 7th (2.21, tied w/ Tavares, just behind Mackinnon)
SM - 30th (1.87, between JT Miller & William Karlsson)
Assists/60
EK - 2nd (1.55, only McJesus is better)
SM - 54th ( 1.00, just ahead of Carl Soderberg)
On-Ice GF%
EK - 6th (57.6, just ahead of Crosby)
SM - 56th (50.4, just ahead of Bryan Little)
Monahan is 2 yrs younger, but also a UFA in 2 yrs. Kuznetsov is signed for 4 more years, and in my trade StL retained 800k in salary to balance things out.
Point is, maybe you don't like the deal, but let's not pretend Kuznetsov isn't a real upgrade over Monahan.