Quoting: OldNYIfan
The Chicago trade is fine, but Los Angeles declines the Pittsburgh offer.
I can't imagine how you came to the conclusion that "Pickering looks to be better than Spence" based upon Pickering's miniscule sample of 8 games in the AHL, where over the span of 102 games, Jordan Spence has tallied 87 points. (Spence outperformed Pickering their respective last two years in juniors, too, but that's not all that meaningful.) Spence has clearly shown that he's NHL-ready, whereas Pickering is quite a ways away from that yet. Which is not that surprising inasmuch as Spence is three years older, so I'm not going to say that Spence has a brighter future than Pickering, but I see no evidence for the contention that Pickering has a brighter future than Spence.
Iafallo is worth a late first or early second. (I'd like to know who on the Penguins current roster you think would play #2LW ahead of him and behind Jake Guentzel.) The problem is that Pittsburgh's first is too much for him and the second that would be proper value now belongs to Buffalo. The future late third is just an insult.
I doubt he came to the conclusion "Pickering looks to be better than Spence" based on Pickering's AHL stint. Pickering looks to have the higher upside, I think that's what the point was.
Pickering was a 1st round pick, and from what I recall was mostly projected to be a 2nd pairing defenseman who could QB a power play. Spence was a 4th round pick, and at 22 is probably not going to get much better than he is now: development typically plateaus at 23.
And Pickering still has a lot going for him. He's still a bit of a raw prospect, yes, but there are a lot of positives. He was Swift Current's captain and a WHL All-Star. Every source I can find (
EliteProspects,
PensBurgh) praises his skating ability, something that isn't always a focus for someone 6'4" like he is. Strong skating ability is becoming more and more important. NHL hockey is getting faster and more talented.
I'm not sure whether or not the Pens would take this deal, but it's a bit presumptuous not to expect Pickering to have a brigher future. Nothing is guaranteed, but there's a pretty good chance Pickering reaches greater heights.