A dman that they desperately want to get rid of, one that is not really that good, a first in a reportedly really weak draft, a very low second and fourth for Laine and Kukan...hmmm.

Context can change trades like this a lot though.

Laine is 1 year away from unrestricted free agency via signing his 7.5 million dollar QO. Teams never get full value in those situations. If Columbus shops Laine because they either don't want to be the team to give him his big long term contract, or he doesn't want to sign there, that package is pretty good. Players rarely get more than that in the above situation.

Brannstrom is not worth much. Maybe a 3rd round pick. A 7th overall (even in a weak draft), a 2nd, and a 3rd is a good return for a 1st line forward who is 1 year away from UFA status.

The inclusion of Zaitsev would be the only questionable aspect, since I'd imagine he'd be viewed as a cap dump.

The Laine situation is not like that at all. He has said numerous times that he wants to stay and management has said the same thing. You're devaluing him in the name of context that doesn't exist

You uncovered my plan to devalue players on an internet message board. Dammit, I was so close to getting away with it!

There was a very important qualifying word throughout my paragraph. I will give you 30 seconds to re-read. Okay, here we go. The word was (If).

if
/if/
conjunction
1.
(introducing a conditional clause) on the condition or supposition that; in the event that.
"if you have a complaint, write to the director"

I never insinuated that Laine wanted out, or that Columbus did not want to re-sign him. I proposed a conditional context where that package makes sense.

For all your fears about an anonymous poster with the avatar of a famous Japanese organizing guru devaluing hockey players on message boards, if anything, I upped Laine's value! Because I stipulated that (if) Laine is available in a context that often results in players getting low returns (he wants to leave in a year as a UFA, the team doesn't want him), the 7th overall + + would be a reasonable return. We're on the same team here. I am working undercover for Jarmo pumping his players values on internet message boards in case a rival GM is reading.

you spent far too much time on that reply thinking that I actually care. I was just saying that the offer is not enough because that context does not exist