Quoting: KSIxSKULLS
NJD was fleeced in the trade, they did not win the trade.
There's a difference between losing a trade and having a good scouting and developing team. Hall had way more value than the 18th overall pick and depth players.
Guess that's the difference between my perspective on who wins a trade and who doesn't. SJS won that Karlsson trade asset wise, but unforeseen circumstances changed the outlook on the trade. St.Louis absolutely won that trade. They won the cup and ROR won the conn Smythe, doesn't matter what Thompson does unless he repeats the same process. Even still, he was a bust prospect who benefitted from a change of scenery.
Sure, its easy to separate the trade and the scouting or development that can improve upon the return. But you still need the pieces. And here, San Jose walked away with possibly four solid assets in Zetterlund, Mukhamadullin and the two picks. Its up to them to do something with them.
Some expected Mercer, or Holtz or Nemec....but in reality, guys like that are very, very rarely traded (even more rare to be done with high picks). So, its not realistic to expect that sort of return.
Quoting: goodfella
None of the Devils players are top line and might not even be second line. The picks will be late.
Well done for the Devils, they fleeced Grier, but that seems to be the trend with him as a GM.
When have we seen top-line prospects traded?
I can count on my fingers the amount of trades in cap era that have included three pieces, with a 1st, that included a top-25 prospect.
Eichel
O'Reilly
Yandle
Ryan
Nash
Burns
Pronger
Only two wingers, both had term.
If you want to go to top-50 prospect...Zucker, Hall, Muzzin, Karlsson, Kessel, Pominville, Kovalchuk, Boyle, Forsberg...maybe a couple others and that is it.